It looks every bit if Bitcoin is getting Segregated Witness.
Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 91 (BIP 91) only locked in. Up to xc pct of all hash ability signaled back upwardly for this soft fork, which implies miners intend, inwards turn, to trigger Segregated Witness (SegWit) activation. By extension, this should brand BIP 148 obsolete together with August 1 a non-event.
But SegWit is non certain. In fact, on a technical level, SegWit is non whatsoever closer to activation at all.
BIP 91
Segregated Witness, defined yesteryear BIP 141, locks inwards if at to the lowest degree 95 pct of miners (by hash power) indicate back upwardly for the upgrade inside a two-week difficulty period. To create so, miners ask to embed a slice of information called “bit 1” inwards the blocks they mine.
Importantly, this is technically the only fashion for SegWit to activate correct now. And this threshold has non yet been met.
But at that topographic point are option strategies to endeavour together with hit this threshold “indirectly” — similar BIP 91.
BIP 91 is a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal proposed yesteryear Bitmain Warranty engineer James Hilliard. It is compatible amongst the New York Agreement together with backed yesteryear a set out of Bitcoin companies together with mining pools. It is too compatible amongst BIP 148, unopen to other strategy to encounter the BIP 141 threshold indirectly.
Miners conduct maintain been signaling back upwardly for BIP 91 over the yesteryear duet of days through unopen to other slice of data, “bit 4.” Once 269 blocks inside a 336-block window include chip 4, this BIP 91 soft fork gets locked in. This threshold was only met.
This way that later unopen to other 336 blocks, a picayune over ii days from now, all BIP 91–compatible nodes volition turn down whatsoever block that doesn’t include chip 1.
As long every bit a bulk of hash ability enforces BIP 91, this bulk should eventually command the longest valid chain according to all Bitcoin nodes. And every bit this chain consists of SegWit-signaling blocks only, it would inwards plow activate SegWit on all SegWit-ready nodes.
In that case, BIP 141 should lock inwards yesteryear mid-August, together with SegWit should hold upwardly alive on the Bitcoin network later a two-week “grace period” yesteryear the halt of that month.
If all goes good …
What Could Go Wrong?
Although good over fourscore pct of hash ability has signaled chip 4 for BIP 91 activation, this doesn’t truly guarantee anything. Most importantly, it doesn’t inwards itself hateful that these miners volition indicate chip 1 for SegWit.
Indeed, so far, most miners don’t. Currently, the proportion of miners signaling chip 1 is nonetheless far lower than BIP 91 activation would suggest. Indeed, it is fifty-fifty lower than 50 percent.
Moreover, BIP 91 is belike beingness enforced yesteryear hardly any economically relevant nodes; that is, nodes operated yesteryear users that conduct maintain bitcoins every bit payment. Almost no Bitcoin users on the network recognize BIP 91 or its chip 4 signaling at all, together with volition hence croak along to conduct maintain blocks amongst or without chip 1.
BIP 91 is, therefore, enforced yesteryear hash ability alone. This inwards plow way that a bulk of miners (by hash power) could dorsum out of BIP 91 amongst picayune to a greater extent than than reputational damage. They could croak along to mine blocks that create non indicate chip 1, fifty-fifty later BIP 91 activates inwards a few days. As long every bit these miners are inwards a majority, they volition nonetheless command the longest valid chain: valid according to most miners, together with valid to most users.
Furthermore, whatsoever minority of miners together with the few nodes that create enforce the BIP 91 soft fork would so hold upwardly forked off the Bitcoin network. In a few days from now, these miners would mine (on move yesteryear of) blocks that most only they themselves would reckon valid, land most of the residual of the entire Bitcoin network would completely ignore them. These miners would hold upwardly wasting their resources.
With this week’s chip 4 signaling, a bulk of miners conduct maintain effectively made a disceptation that they intend to start to activate the SegWit soft fork inside a duet of days. But for now, that’s truly all it is: a really public, blockchain-based disceptation of intent.
Actual SegWit activation should start side yesteryear side week, if miners stick to their stated intent.
Read Article Full BIP 91 Has Activated. Here’s What That Means (and What It Does Not) : http://ift.tt/2vpNT47