Author: Keagan McClelland 2021-03-06 20:55:37
Published on: 2021-03-06T20:55:37+00:00
A proposed modification to the activation proposal for Taproot, a proposed Bitcoin protocol upgrade, was discussed in the ##taproot-activation IRC channel. The proposed "Speedy Trial" activation method aims to generate progress and end debates surrounding taproot activation proposals. It involves miners signalling their support for the upgrade during a three-month period, after which it will lock in if at least 90% of blocks mined include the signal.The proposal does not mandate signalling but encourages it. False signalling by miners remains a potential issue, but this is common to all activation methods. If false signalling occurs, it could lead to long reorganizations and losses for users and SPV clients that do not upgrade. However, the lack of mandatory signalling and advanced notice of activation, which can be up to six months, are advantageous features of this proposal.Some concerns were raised during discussions, such as a small group attempting to split the network with divergent consensus rules. Matt Corallo suggested having two shorter signalling windows rather than one long one, but Ariel Luaces suggested spreading the deployment window out to a year and making the activation threshold 95%, with the feature activating at the end of the window if there is above 51% signalling. The goal is to ensure widespread adoption of new consensus rules while maintaining safety. Implementation details of the Speedy Trial proposal are still being discussed, and Russell O'Connor has offered to work on a patch against BIP8 implementing it if it gains traction. The idea was first discussed in the taproot-activation IRC channel last July, and frustration has been growing, but discussion has been overwhelmingly constructive.
Updated on: 2023-06-14T19:15:51.309051+00:00