▶Play
Years into the great Bitcoin scaling debate no solution is in reach. Neither bigger blocks nor Segregated Witness have anywhere near consensus support. With the conflict escalating, a Bitcoin fork has become a real possibility.
Electrum Developer Thomas Voegtlin joined us to discuss the state of the Bitcoin scaling debate. We discussed Bitcoin Unlimited, ASICBoost, SegWit activation without miner support and how a Bitcoin fork could play out. Possible outcomes include that Bitcoin Unlimited gains a majority of hashing power and starts mining bigger blocks. In the event of a fork, a proof-of-work change could be done to defend the minority chain from miner attacks. And lately a proposal was brought forward to activate SegWit without the support of the hashing power.
Topics discussed in this episode:
- ASICBoost and its potential role in the conflict
- How a Bitcoin fork could happen
- How to split coins in case of a fork
- How UASF could be used to activate SegWit without miner support
- Requirements for UASF to be safe
- How Electrum would handle a fork
Guests
Links
- Electrum Bitcoin Wallet
- ASICBoost – Hacker Noon
- Bitcoin's New Controversy: The AsicBoost Allegations Explained - CoinDesk
- Timo Hanke on ASICBoost and SegWit Non-Activation
- From AsicBoost to UASF: Greg Maxwell on Bitcoin's Path Forward - CoinDesk
- [bitcoin-dev] Thomas Voegtlin: Soft Fork Threshold Signaling Proposal
- UASF Working Group
- [bitcoin-dev] Greg Maxwell: I do not support the BIP 148 UASF
- Thomas Voegtlin: Electrum, SPV Wallets And Bitcoin Aliases — Epicenter