This week the bitcoin ABC developers officially announced the much anticipated bitcoin Cash network hard fork on May 15. In addition to the statement from the development team, the codebase for the client bitcoin ABC 0.17.0 has also been made available with the newly added consensus rules.
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bitcoin Cash Forks Again This Spring
bitcoin cash is forking again on May 15, 2018, and the protocol’s consensus rules will change going forward. The fork was expected as the bitcoin ABC lead developer announced intentions to fork a few months ago. Further, Séchet explained that it would be easier to fork after the new year and detailed some of the reasons why the fork would take place. Now, this week the ABC development team has released which contains the code to change the bitcoin Cash network’s consensus rules.
The scheduled activation time will be on May 15 but there is no specific block height for this hard fork. Much like the birth of BCH, and the last fork in November consensus rules will change based on the “Median Time Past” (MTP) method. So on Tuesday, May 15 at 12:00:00 UTC, 2018 when the MTP takes place with the most recent 11 blocks equal to or greater than 1,526,400,000, the very next block will activate the hard fork.
A 32 Megabyte Block Size Increase and Op-Code Additions
The development team explains that anyone running an ABC node should immediately upgrade to the 0.17.0 release or other compatible software. As far as other clients are concerned, ABC developers state they cannot speak on behalf of these other implementation teams, but ABC has communicated with them. “bitcoin ABC is currently testing both the new rules and their activation — a testnet should be available soon,” explains bitcoin ABC. The latest also details the important changes within the new software:
The most notable change is the increase of the maximum block size to 32 MB — There are also several bitcoin script operation codes (op-codes) being added or reactivated.
No Hard Fork Fears
The developers also detail that they are in the midst of talking with major exchanges and wallet providers concerning the May 15th upgrade. The team emphasizes that the community can help by contacting infrastructure providers to make the process go more smoothly. The last bitcoin Cash network upgrade back in November of 2017 had zero complications, and the Difficulty Algorithm Adjustment (DAA) consensus changes have kept the mining difficulty consistent. It’s safe to say the BCH community, in general, doesn’t seem to be afraid of hard forks. Proponents are looking forward to a 32 MB block size increase and op-code additions that could bring ethereum-like characteristics to the BCH network.
What do you think about the bitcoin Cash network upgrade slated for May 15? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments below.
Images via Shutterstock, and bitcoin ABC.
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bitcoin ATMs are becoming increasingly popular as the adoption of cryptocurrencies are becoming more mainstream. They make buying and selling cryptocurrency much more accessible than ever before.
The company leading the way to mainstream adoption is bitcoin Depot.
bitcoin Depot has recently installed its 125th ATM, adding to the company`s rapidly growing bitcoin ATM network. Its convenient physical locations are making a significant impact on cryptocurrency adoption and usage. All bitcoin Depot ATMs now support Litecoin, bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum which are much quicker to transact with and have lower-fees than bitcoin. bitcoin Depot currently provides cryptocurrency access to 85 million in 15 states nationwide.
Other options to purchase cryptocurrency such as online exchanges often take weeks to verify your account making it very difficult and frustrating to buy or sell cryptocurrency, especially during times of extreme market fluctuation. In December 2017, the bitcoin price was at an all time high. During this time, transactions at bitcoin ATMs were skyrocketing and bitcoin Depot was able to handle the transaction volume with no issues. However, bitcoin exchanges were getting thousands of new users per day and were unable to handle the increased requests. Some exchanges were so overwhelmed that new user registration was disabled entirely.
bitcoin Depot offers instant verification. No extensive document list, bank accounts or credit cards are required to transact, only cash is needed. Anyone can quickly get verified and transact using a valid phone number. (Larger transactions require an ID.)
bitcoin Depot takes pride in its customer service. You can easily call and talk to someone in the company’s office. Questions and concerns can be quickly addressed via email, text and phone support. Most bitcoin companies do not offer phone support and are slow in responding to e-mail, causing many customers to become angry and skeptical of the integrity of the business.
Given the complex and often misunderstood nature of cryptocurrency, bitcoin Depot handles this skepticism well by ensuring that customers feel safe and can easily understand how to transact. “The majority of our customers are return customers” says bitcoin Depot CEO Brandon Mintz, a testament to earning customer trust and brand loyalty.
Find a bitcoin Depot ATM near you.
Contact Email Address
sam@bitcoindepot.com
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This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.
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Ether Universe the project initially marketed itself as a universal infrastructure around the concept of “cross-chain”, which has been believed to make a blast in 2018.
Although messages were flooding all the time, it was hard to miss the “rumors” in their community saying that the team was about to develop a sub-project in order to put the infrastructure into the first worthy use case.
We contacted the team in pursuit of a statement. The spokesperson, in reply, confirmed the message and revealed some information of the sub-project. The app, serving as a sub-project or side-project, will mostly look like a wallet app. It was no surprise, since the team spent a lot of paragraphs in their white paper to discuss on asset liquidity over blockchain.
According to screenshots of the source code and documentation of their work-in-progress which we are not authorized to reveal at present, a lot of functionalities which are strongly tied to distinct features provided by the Ether Universe network are being intensively developed, although there is a lot of space for UI improvements.
For now, here are the details we confirmed:
The wallet app features synchronous two-way token exchanging, which shall be implemented with the improved smart contract model in Ether Universe.
Cryptocurrencies which are not compatible with Ethereum may get case-specific support hence bitcoin can be supported — like some other wallet apps.
A user will be able to transfer EOS tokens to the receipt while spending ETH tokens, or vice versa. The ETH tokens in possession by the user shall be converted to EOS tokens by active traders on Ether Universe network at best available rates. More cryptocurrencies shall be on the list upon release.
However, the feasibility of the following prosprctive features remains to be validated:
The transaction verification time (including network delay) shall be shorter than over Ethereum network.
The transaction fee shall be cheaper than over Ethereum network.
bitcoin will be included in the auto-conversion system as well.
Also, we gathered some information of the creators of the project. Speaking of the composition, in comparison with the majority of the top projects in terms of popularity, the number of algorithm specialists in the team may be proven to be insufficient, but more people may join.
Interpretations were made in spite of the complexity of the project. The project presents several innovative features, e.g. BpWG voting model, smart dynamic rebalancing, and subchaining. However, the challenge ahead remains unclear.
The demand of token exchanging has already been well satisfied by exchange markets, although they are centralized and are vulnerable to cyber attacks; people have a tension of regulatory risks in their minds greater than ever before; Ethereum network has become the de facto infrastructure for cryptocurrency affairs without limitation to ICO fundraising. The technology illustrated by Ether Universe may change the status quo, however, he team’s prospect and ability remain to be tested.
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Under the growing global commitment to introduce clearer and more comprehensive regulations for cryptocurrency market and the sphere of initial coin offerings, Japan is working on developing the most appropriate ways to regulate this area. In the framework of this initiative, Japan has unveiled proposed guidelines for the legalization of ICOs.
In a by Tama University and the Center for Rule-making Strategies, a government-funded research group, the members defined guidelines for elaborating the rules that are needed to “establish ICOs as a sustainable financing method.”
According to this document, it is proposed to legally standardize Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering (KYC and AML) requirements. It is also recommended to implement rules that would help to provide protection for existing shareholders and debt holders, to eliminate a risk of insider trading, and to enhance standard cybersecurity practices.
Moreover, the experts standing behind the proposal presented two principles for avoiding of any misunderstandings around ICOs.
Following the first principle, ICO issuers are required to disclose how profits and funds raised will be distributed and used. The experts insist that investors should know all the conditions around their funds and any changes regarding their allocation.
The second principle is dealing with updating of information presented in the so-called white papers that usually include the goals and purposes of the project and details of the ICO. It is believed that potential investors need to track the progress of project realization. Nevertheless, today quite often white papers practically have no concrete data or targets. And there are some doubts whether this document should be updated in the course of project realization.
Experts have also described three types of ICOs.
The first one is named a “Venture Company Type,” and it is defined as a “fund-raising by venture companies through high-risk, high return investments.”
The second ICO variant is the “Ecosystem Type”. And this term stands for “fund-raising for collaborative efforts in which multiple corporations such as companies and local governments are engaged.”
And finally, the third ICO type is called the “Large Company Type”. And this notion we can use for describing “fund-raising by companies for certain in-house projects with high risk.”
In the it is said that the requirements defined by the experts at present are minimal and “to enable ICOs to be used safely by a wide range of issuers and investors and to be accepted well in the society, more detailed rules may be required”.
Today there are lots of discussions around ICOs and their security for investors. And Japan’s efforts to regulate this sphere is considered to be a positive move for making things clearer and more reliable for all the parties involved. The more information investors have about principles and rules for ICOs, the higher their chances not to fall into the trap are.
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