Big question about Bitcoin XT.

[@boutiuqe]

Do we need to upgrade to bitcoin XT right now ?

[unamis76]

No, why should we need to?

[DannyHamilton]

Do we need to upgrade to bitcoin XT right now ?

You don't ever NEED to switch to Bitcoin XT unless or until you want to.

[@boutiuqe]

When the fork , is it totally idfferent 2 chains ? or same chain ?

[DannyHamilton]

When the fork , is it totally idfferent 2 chains ? or same chain ?

If a blockchain fork ever happens, and there is no guarantee that it ever will, then there would be two chains that are EXACTLY IDENTICAL up to the forking block.  Then after the forking block, the chains would be completely different forever.  Any unspent transaction outputs that exist in blocks from before the fork would be valid on BOTH blockchains.  Unspent outputs that are created in blocks after the fork will generally only exist in that specific blockchain (although in some special instances might still exist in both blockchains).

[ajareselde]

Do we need to upgrade to bitcoin XT right now ?

U dont need to, until proven otherwise; since the fork will happen (if it does at all) when 90% of the network is on XT chain.
On the other side, you can go on XT right now, it wouldnt made any difference, and if the fork happens, you wouldn't have to switch clients again.
imho,  its a "nothing to loose, nothing to gain" situation, since i doubt the fork will happen anyways.

cheers

[chennan]

No need yet! Bitcoin XT doesn't change anything about block size limits at the moment. It is more experimental than Bitcoin Core, and focuses on supporting the needs of app developers and merchants. As an individual we could wait later announcement. Besides that, Bitcoin XT is not recommended to download yet officially at the bitcointalk.org yet.

[@boutiuqe]

So when is date for BitcoinXT will occur on the network ?
I mean the fork.

[Amph]

So when is date for BitcoinXT will occur on the network ?
I mean the fork.

they estimate a date around march 1 2016, but they will talk about it in the future before the changes will kick in

nothing is guaranteed at the moment

[eXpl0sive]

When the fork , is it totally idfferent 2 chains ? or same chain ?

If a blockchain fork ever happens, and there is no guarantee that it ever will, then there would be two chains that are EXACTLY IDENTICAL up to the forking block.  Then after the forking block, the chains would be completely different forever.  Any unspent transaction outputs that exist in blocks from before the fork would be valid on BOTH blockchains.  Unspent outputs that are created in blocks after the fork will generally only exist in that specific blockchain (although in some special instances might still exist in both blockchains).

So the chain that is controlled by 51% of total nodes will win?
In other words, if 51% nodes decide to move to XT wallet, the other 49% will also be forced to move to XT?

[LiteCoinGuy]

@eXpl0sive

dont worry about that stuff - make sure you dont get hacked and lose your coins that way. that is the real danger  

[ajareselde]

So the chain that is controlled by 51% of total nodes will win?
In other words, if 51% nodes decide to move to XT wallet, the other 49% will also be forced to move to XT?

No, against popular opinion, the fork will in this case happen if and when 90% of the nodes are XT ones, not 51% of them. So it's wrong to say anyone will be "forced" to switch to XT.
imho this fork is a good one, and i sure hope the majority of the network switches to XT and we have a new fork.

cheers

[coinpr0n]

Can someone explain why we're still talking about the XT fork? Is the BIP 100 not ideal for some reason I am missing? I don't even see any threads about it on the forums: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/39kzyt/draft_bip_100_soft_fork_block_size_increase/

[DannyHamilton]

So the chain that is controlled by 51% of total nodes will win?

That depends on what you mean by "controlled by" and what the creators of Bitcoin XT decide to do.

In other words, if 51% nodes decide to move to XT wallet, the other 49% will also be forced to move to XT?

No.

the fork will in this case happen if and when 90% of the nodes are XT

No.

It is not possible to accurately count how many "nodes" there are.  None of this is based on any percentage of nodes.

Right now the creators of Bitcoin XT are stating that they will wait for 90% of the economic power to switch to Bitcoin XT compatible wallets before their Bitcoin XT wallet will accept a larger (and therefore fork inducing) block.  It is possible that they could change their minds and modify Bitcoin XT to accept larger blocks sooner, but I feel that is very unlikey.

I believe when they say "90% of the economic power" they are generally talking about 90% of the hash power (and therefore 90% of the blocks in the blockchain), although I think they have talked about getting some of the merchants that handle the largest amount of bitcoins (such as Coinbase, BitPay, and Circle) to switch before increasing the block size as well.

If, for some reason, they decide to allow Bitcoin XT to accept larger blocks when only a little bit more than 50% of the hash power is using Bitcoin XT compatible software, then there will be two blockchains.  There would be no "winning" and nobody would be "forced" to switch if they didn't want to.  Instead, each blockchain would act like its own cryptocurrency, and you'd have to check with each merchant (or any individual) before you sent them anything to find out which bitcoin they are using.  In that situation, many merchants might choose to accept transactions on both blockchains until one chain reaches an economic superiority.

[AtheistAKASaneBrain]

Can someone explain why we're still talking about the XT fork? Is the BIP 100 not ideal for some reason I am missing? I don't even see any threads about it on the forums: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/39kzyt/draft_bip_100_soft_fork_block_size_increase/

Those are all just ideas to solve the same problem. Some may lip the BIP 100, others want a 20MB hardfork, other 8...
At the end of the day the average Bitcoin user doesn't need to worry about this. If a hardfork happens, your coins will be availible in whatever new blockchain that appears after the fork, and the coins will also be availible in the original pre-fork blockchain, so no worries.

[ajas]

...

Instead, each blockchain would act like its own cryptocurrency, and you'd have to check with each merchant (or any individual) before you sent them anything to find out which bitcoin they are using.  In that situation, many merchants might choose to accept transactions on both blockchains until one chain reaches an economic superiority.

That is very nice. Just after the fork I will sell my bitcoins on both blockchains and will get twice the money.
Just hope the price will not fall too fast.

[NorrisK]

...

Instead, each blockchain would act like its own cryptocurrency, and you'd have to check with each merchant (or any individual) before you sent them anything to find out which bitcoin they are using.  In that situation, many merchants might choose to accept transactions on both blockchains until one chain reaches an economic superiority.

That is very nice. Just after the fork I will sell my bitcoins on both blockchains and will get twice the money.
Just hope the price will not fall too fast.

Most likely the exchanges and payment processors will adopt only 1 of the chains. Therefore, it is unlikely you will be able to spend the coins on both of the chains.

[CIYAM]

This has been about the worst thing that has happened in the history of Bitcoin IMO.

The best we can hope for is that the 90% acceptance level won't be "changed" and the worst that could happen is basically going to hurt Bitcoin more than anything else ever has.

[BrianM]

I really feel like Pandoras box have been opened here, and it cannot be closed again.
For the first time in a long time am I really concern about bitcoins future.
When I say "bitcoin" I mean what people will think of as real bitcoins in the future.
I fear we will have two version of bitcoin and that would be really bad for mass adoptation.

[LiteCoinGuy]

this is the end.