Published on: 2021-03-03T22:58:10+00:00
The email thread and discussion on the bitcoin-dev mailing list revolve around the activation mechanism for the Taproot soft fork in Bitcoin. The proposal of LOT=false, where Taproot will be activated if at least 95% of miners vote yes, is compared to the LOT=true proposal, where Taproot will be activated if at least 0% of miners vote yes. A declining percentage of signaling activation is suggested as a compromise, eventually becoming a LOT=true. It is argued that LOT=true holds all the benefits and satisfies arguments for LOT=false with the cooldown period.It is mentioned that old node software will continue to work in the case of a soft-fork, and users following bip8 with lockinontimeout=false will enforce taproot rules if activation occurs. The risk is said to be maximally reduced by deploying LOT=True as the only parameter, while introducing LOT=False would increase the probability and severity of risk.There is a debate over the use of miner signaling for activation, with one member arguing that it is not a bug but an inherent part of how Bitcoin works. The purpose of miner signaling is to avoid a chain split by countering majority hash power censorship. However, another member argues that using LOT=false reintroduces a bug by giving miners a veto and incentive to second-guess activation decisions. In contrast, LOT=true avoids regression on bugs and combines the certainty of a flag day with the speed improvement of a MASF.The discussion also covers concerns about chain splits and unreliable networks for users who do not enforce Taproot rules. It is pointed out that avoiding a reorg can be achieved through various means, such as running "invalidateblock" or examining block headers. However, there are differing opinions on the level of risk associated with LOT=False. Some argue that LOT=True should be the only deployed parameter to minimize risk, while others note that LOT=False is already the default behavior of existing node software.The conversation also touches on the potential for miners to veto a BIP 9 activation, with one member claiming that miners were unable to do so in 2017. However, there is disagreement on whether this is a valid argument.In conclusion, the debate revolves around the risks and benefits of using LOT=true or LOT=false for Taproot activation. Some argue that LOT=false puts users and the network at significant risk, while others believe that LOT=true minimizes risk for everyone. There is a call to remove LOT as an option entirely and deploy all soft forks with LOT=true, but there is no consensus on this issue yet.
Updated on: 2023-08-02T03:18:28.798769+00:00