bitcoin-dev

The Future of Bitcoin Testnet

The Future of Bitcoin Testnet

Original Postby Jameson Lopp

Posted on: March 31, 2024 14:57 UTC

Eric Voskuil has identified a specific issue within the network where a flood of a dozen blocks per second occurs for several days every time an edge case is encountered.

This situation arises from a particular behavior in the network that seems to be problematic. Upon further analysis, Voskuil suggests that this issue could potentially be resolved through a soft fork. The proposed solution involves modifying the special testnet minimum difficulty rule to prevent it from being triggered on the block immediately preceding a difficulty retarget. This approach aims to address the root cause of the flooding by adjusting the conditions under which the minimum difficulty rule applies, thereby preventing the rapid influx of blocks that leads to the observed network congestion.