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It has been three months since the Bitcoin Cash () network was introduced to the cryptocurrency community. So far, the protocol is holding its own with continued infrastructure growth as well as capturing the fourth largest digital asset capitalization. However, the community and the project’s developers are in the midst of a debate regarding removing the Emergency Difficulty Adjustment (EDA), which initially helped keep the network going during its first few weeks.
Also read: Bitcoin Software Wars: Segwit2x Node Masking and Opt-in Replay Protection Merged
The Bitcoin Cash Community Discusses the Network’s EDA Problems
On August 25, Bitcoin ABC lead developer, Amaury Sechet (Deadalnix), revealed his idea for a difficulty algorithm change for the network. Sechet says he was expecting “wild swings of hashrate” between both and chains. “This isn’t something we can completely prevent without both and hashrate adjusting in timeframes equivalent with the ones of price swing,” explains Sechet on the bitcoin-ml mailing list. However, the developer says they can make the situation better, but doesn’t think it’s an “urgent problem to solve.”
“There is a lot of uncertainty in the space, at least until November, so I’m not sure that changing the adjustment is a wise move before then,” explains Sechet. “Really, the whole thing is young and still settling down.”
Additionally, in the mailing list email Sechet proposes a solution which has been submitted for review, so that the rest of the Bitcoin ABC developers can discuss the idea. The algorithm is designed to “adjust the difficulty to hashrate to target a mean block interval of 600 seconds” – according to an individual called “Mengerian” who reviewed the idea with Sechet. Mengerian says other design features include avoiding drastic changes during times when the hashrate is flat, and adjusting difficulty when the hashrate changes fast. Sechet says he simulated the following scenarios with constant hashrate and swings between block intervals.
Bitcoin Classic Developer Thomas Zander Provides His Opinion and Solutions
On October 5, Bitcoin Classic lead developer, Thomas Zander, has also given his of the current EDA situation. Zander details why he believes Satoshi chose a difficulty adjustment every two weeks.
“My personal conclusion is that the choice of 2 weeks is a balance,” explains Zander. “Making the period significantly shorter brings down the value of the coin because it becomes more risky to mine it. Making the period longer brings down the value of the coin because inflation rises.”
Zander has come up with a few solutions to the EDA problem facing the network. One solution is completely removing the EDA and letting deal with the legacy adjustment period; which has worked for bitcoin throughout the years. Zander emphasizes, “the chain is not really hurting from BCHs existence — The algorithm works, and eventually we should revert to that — It’s not broken, so why fix it?” However, the Bitcoin Classic developer understands that some people think the EDA is necessary and if that’s the case, Zander believes, “we need to fix it if we want to keep it — the current situation is very damaging.
Zander then describes a dual-EDA concept which patches the existing EDA and makes its so miners can’t abuse the algorithm by triggering a downward difficulty adjustment.
“The goal is to reverse incorrectly applied EDAs,” Zander explains. “We ensure that the difficulty never goes above the base which means that as long as there is no EDA triggered, the reverse EDA will do nothing.”
Overall the discussion is moving along progressively, and the community seems to be working together to address the EDA issue. There is a bit of disagreement on how much of a priority fixing the EDA really is, but it hasn’t stopped the unrestrained discussion. Some individuals also dislike Thomas Zander’s dual EDA idea and have detailed their opposition towards the proposal. Moreover, there are other EDA fix proposals on the table as well which are being reviewed by the development community.
What do you think about the Bitcoin Cash network’s current EDA issues? Do you think it is something that needs to be fixed right now or do you think it should wait until after November? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Images via Shutterstock, Bitcoincash.org, and social media.
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