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BCHN FAQ on November 2020 Bitcoin Cash network upgrade

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by Bitcoin Cash Node Team
5 August 2020

This is a FAQ specifically on BCHN's position regarding the November 2020 Bitcoin Cash network upgrade and related topics.

It is a document that is expected to incur some revision as we learn about new questions that the ecosystem may have. Please feel free to leave your questions in the comments.

1. What proposal is BCHN backing for November, if any?

BCHN backs the deployment of the aserti3-2d (ASERT) difficulty algorithm of Mark Lundeberg and Jonathan Toomim for the November upgrade.

2. Would you consider a "no-upgrade" for November?

No, we do not support a "no upgrade" for November as we see the correction of the current DAA's problems as critical for the survival of Bitcoin Cash. The ASERT proposal has been evaluated against a wide range of contenders, including the recently announced Grasberg proposal, and has demonstrably outperformed them.

3. Does BCHN support the creation of a new coin (i.e. a currency split)?

No. We support a unified Bitcoin Cash ecosystem moving forward on the basis of a well-researched, tested proposal that performs measurably better than the alternatives.

4. Is BCHN going to abolish Automatic Replay Protection (aka poison pill)?

The intent of "Automatic Replay Protection" is to avoid un-upgraded nodes causing problems after a planned upgrade. It causes un-upgraded nodes to fork themselves off to a new network at the time of an upgrade.

BCHN has a better way to accomplish the same intent by first ensuring that un-upgraded nodes notify the operator ahead of time, and second simply halting the un-upgraded node at the upgrade. Notification and shutdown are more actionable and save the operator the wasted time and money of mining or accidentally transacting on an empty chain.

5. Has anyone asked BCHN to implement historic drift correction?

No. Despite being in contact with pools, exchanges and many other businesses that use and build on Bitcoin Cash, no-one has ever asked BCHN for this feature.

Moreover, the implications (longer block times & reduced mining reward) as recently considered by the ecosystem have shown strong and wide opposition to such a feature which negatively affects many users and would harm the reputation of the network.