Apologies in advance for the dumb questions...
If the fork takes place...if "Bitcoin Classic" does indeed materialize...does this mean that the original blockchain and the new chain with bigger blocks will both still function at the same time? In this case, isn't "Bitcoin Classic" just another alt coin?
lets say there are 6000 users who are dedicated and enthusiastic full node users
1 thousand chose bitcoin classic 2mb
1 thousand chose bitcoin unlimited 2mb
1 thousand chose bitcoin core 2mb
1 thousand chose bitcoin core 1mb SegWit
1 thousand chose bitcoinj 2mb
1 thousand chose other implementations all with 2mb rule..
then miners will see 83% consensus for 2mb and miners will hopefully choose to start mining 2mb blocks as the community is ready for it..
bitcoin continues and 83% are happy... but the downside is that 1mb segwit clients will throw away 2mb blocks, because even after cutting out signatures the data is still over 1mb.. making segwit left behind dropping blocks and not able to be part of the network.. as they "handshake" other nodes to say that they are several blocks behind everyone else and refusing to accept big blocks..
so its not really an altcoin.. is just being put into retirement with less data then the rest
now..
imagine
1 thousand chose bitcoin classic 2mb
1 thousand chose bitcoin unlimited 2mb
1 thousand chose bitcoin core 2mb
1 thousand chose bitcoin core 1mb SegWit
1 thousand chose bitcoinj 2mb
1 thousand chose other implementations all with 2mb rule..
same numbers..
but this time miners chose to do 1mbsegwit blocks (1.5mb reality archival blocks)..
everyone is happy as all 5000 fullnodes will receive full archival data(1.5mb) (aslong as segwit allows archival by default) as segwit is sending out 1mb non-witness blocks to the 1000segwits, which is below the 1mb segwit limit so they approve... and 1.5mb archival blocks to the 5000 full nodes, which is below the 2mb limit so all implementations approve.
but like i say, only if segwit mining by default sends full (archival(with sig) blocks in standard format all implementations can understand.. where truncated versions(no witness) is a non-default second option(for their own kind to experiment with).
now..
imagine
same demograph of users.. but this time there are dissent in the mining ranks.. one miner stays at 1mb(but isnt segwit), another stays at 2mb
the 1mb miner would not have staled his attempt when he sees a 2mb block. because it will reject 2mb by default due to it not being 1mb.. and continue to solve a 1mb block..
5000 users will accept the 2mb as it solved first and ignore the 1mb block as it came second place (fastest solution wins)
but the 1000 segwit users will orphan off the 2mb mined blocks and accept only the 1mb mined block.
but now when the 1mb miner wants to send funds.. only 16% of users see's the coinbase(fresh coin) as valid to spend as only 16% chose to reject the 2mb block. which can cause the 1mb miners coinbase to be unspendable and piss the 1mb miner off..
eventually the 1mb miner agree's to be part of the 2mb community and know it has a chance to spend its coins as the majority of nodes will accept it.
now the segwit users are left limp because they reject blocks that cant truncate down to 1mb and as said in the first scenario.. they are left to retire as they cannot keep up with the block height of the 83% others..
again its not really an altcoin. but a fork that might take some time to get miners to realise what rule allows them to spend their coinbase without headache.
Also, unless BTCC plans to start the whole mining ecology from scratch, then the new blockchain would need to work correctly and seamlessly with the existing SHA256 mining hardware out in the world...yes?
I cannot imagine BTCC being successful, if all the BTC miners and farms in the world must purchase new equipment before they can participate. (Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the bigger players would be delighted?)
-tfeagle
not sure. as i dont believe ive ever read plans for btcc to change the algorithm..