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This web site looks like a good dashboard! Although, I'm not up on the technical details of everything going on here, so some of it is confusing to me, because
by CaliforniaKarl 9y ago
This web site looks like a good dashboard! Although, I'm not up on the technical details of everything going on here, so some of it is confusing to me, because there's not as much background as I'd like.
I've spent some time reading around, and here is my guess as to what the site is describing:
Behind the scenes, achow101 (https://github.com/achow101 https://github.com/achow101) is running four Bitcoin clients:
* `Bitcoin Core` is running the client from https://bitcoin.org/en/ https://bitcoin.org/en/ (https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin) (https://bitcoincore.org https://bitcoincore.org). This client does not support Segregated Witness, and it does not support larger block sizes (so blocks larger than 1 MB are ignored).
* `UASF (BIP 148)` is running the client from https://bitcoinuasf.org https://bitcoinuasf.org (https://github.com/UASF/bitcoin https://github.com/UASF/bitcoin). This client supports Segregated Witness. This client does not support larger block sizes (so blocks larger than 1 MB are ignored).
* `btc1 (segwit2x)` is running the client from https://segwit2x.github.io https://segwit2x.github.io (https://github.com/btc1/bitcoin https://github.com/btc1/bitcoin). This client supports Segregated Witness, as well as changing the block size to 2 MB (blocks larger than 2 MB are ignored).
* `Bitcoin ABC (UAHF)` is running the client from https://www.bitcoinabc.org https://www.bitcoinabc.org (https://github.com/Bitcoin-ABC/bitcoin-abc https://github.com/Bitcoin-ABC/bitcoin-abc). It supports blocks of <8 MB in size (initially defaulting to 2 MB). This client does not support Segregated Witness.
As I understand things, right now there are two events which have hard-coded dates:
* At midnight UTC on August 1, the `UASF (BIP 148)` client will fork, in that it will start ignoring new mined blocks which do not support Segregated Witness.
* At 12:20 UTC on August 1, the `Bitcoin ABC (UAHF)` client might fork. I say might because the fork will be triggered by someone mining a larger-than-1-MB block (the "trigger block") on or after 12:20 UTC. (1 MB is the largest block that the `Bitcoin Core` and `UASF (BIP 148)` clients will recognize). At that point, `Bitcoin ABC (UAHF)` nodes will treat the "trigger block" as valid, and the fork has occurred.
Also, there is another event which may take place, depending on various conditions:
* If—sometime soon (before midnight UTC on August 1), and for a long-enough period—enough people indicate support, then the `btc1 (segwit2x)` node will fork with the `UASF (BIP 148)` node (in that both nodes will start supporting Segregated Witness). Sometime after that fork, the `btc1 (segwit2x)` node will fork off into its own fork, which will have support for 2 MB blocks.
And of course, there is one event which will happen at some point:
* `Bitcoin Core` will release a new version, adding support for Segregated Witness, or for a different block size, or both. `Bitcoin Core` nodes, when they upgrade, will then join one of the forks.
Anyway, I _think_ that's right, but this has gotten really complicated, and I'm trying to skip over the specific details, and the rationale (since, as tempay mentioned, that's been discussed recently).
If I misunderstood something, please let me know!
- thelsdj 9y agoI'm pretty sure the Bitcoin Core client supports Segregated Witness fine. I believe it will follow whatever the longest chain is (as long as its not larger than 1MB).
- tomtomtom777 9y agoYou are correct, but as it seems almost certain at this point that SegWit2X (btc1) will reach its threshold in time, we can simplify. SegWit2x rejects non-SegWit blocks. So with the majority it has it can't cause a fork in the chain (until the HF 3 months later), and neither will BIP148. So with the rather safe assumption SegWit2X reaches its threshold in the next few days, the only expected fork in the chain by August will be Bitcoin Cash (Bitcoin ABC/BU/big blocks) on one chain and Segwit on the other.
- lz400 9y agoSo to super-simplify it. Who wins with this assumed scenario, the scale on chain/big blockers or the off chain/blockstream faction?
- tomtomtom777 9y agoIt isn't that simple yet. SegWit2X, which is about to activate is a compromise that gives both Segwit (improving off-chain) and a slight increase. There is however uncertainty among big blockers about the increase as it is three months later, so it could still fail resulting in SegWit only. The Bitcoin Cash (ABC) fork is addressing this by forking non-SegWit and bigger blocks, though its support is rather uncertain at this point.
- lz400 9y agoSo ABC is like a threat of forking if 2x doesn't happen 3 months later? Is that 2x increase enough to appease the big blockers? As in, does it settle the discussion or this will happen again in 12 months?
- modeless 9y ago