[ANN] Bitcoin Full Fork to alternate branch supporting larger blocks

[Cryptorials]

Wouldn't this give a massive advantage to exchanges? They will own a huge amount of coins on the new chain but will not be required to pay them out to anybody as they will of course not keep separate user balances.

This provides an alternate path for current Bitcoin users as well. All long-term Bitcoin holders start with their coins on the new branch, that is what makes this project / alt coin different from other alt coins. We have plenty of alt coins with different parameters. What we don't have is an alt coin that preservers the first 7 years of Bitcoin ownership. If you own Bitcoin's you will already own part of Satoshi's Bitcoin after it activates.

Somebody should contact exchanges still. Some of them have credited coins / tokens distributed to holders of another coin through snapshot in the past, for example bitshares bts / pts has done this a few times. I guess it depends on whether they are interested in listing the fork or not, but at least some of them may play along.

[bathrobehero]

• The POW algorithm will changed to re-enable CPU mining

Hahaha, good luck with that.

1) This a modified version of scrypt was created by people with extensive experience porting software algorithms into both ASIC and FPGA implementations. Anything can be done in and ASIC, but the design used provides very little benefit over a lite-weight CPU core, it is likely the most cost efficient implementation will be a very cheap ARM core connected to a stick of DRAM.

2) The algorithm will be modified if/when needed to keep CPU mining. This will be part of the code base on the official launch version of the client. By forcing changes into the POW algorithm if needed, this lowers the benefit of optimizing in the first place since the time frame to gain a benefit is low.

CPU exclusive mining is pretty much a lie. Virtually every hashing algo advertised as being CPU only can be mined much more efficienctly with GPUs, FPGAs and later with ASICs if it's worth sinking the money into R&D.

What few algos left for which CPUs are not completely useless compared to GPUs (eg.: cryptonight, scrypt-jane with high n-factor) will end up being controlled by botnets which should be avoided.

All in all, I think this fork will never lift off the ground and it will only cause confusion.

[corsaro]

compiling and installing on a i7 machine...

let's fork ;-)




on ubuntu 15.04

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git
sudo apt-get install libdb++-dev
sudo apt-get install build-essential libtool autotools-dev autoconf pkg-config libssl-dev
sudo apt-get install libboost-all-dev
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bitcoin/bitcoin
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libdb4.8-dev libdb4.8++-dev
sudo apt-get install libminiupnpc-dev
git clone https://github.com/satoshisbitcoin/satoshisbitcoin/
mkdir .bitcoin
touch ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
echo rpcuser=bitcoinrpc >> ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
echo rpcpassword=XXXXXXyoursupermegapassword >> ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
echo maxconnections=125 >> ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
cd satoshisbitcoin
./autogen.sh
./configure
make
make install # optional

to launch daemon type:
./src/bitcoind -daemon -gen



for those who like gui
sudo apt-get install libqt5gui5 libqt5core5a libqt5dbus5 qttools5-dev qttools5-dev-tools libprotobuf-dev protobuf-compiler  
./configure --with-gui=qt5  
make

to launch bitcoin-qt type:

./src/qt/bitcoin-qt


remember to make a backup of your .bitcoin folder

[rocks]

compiling and installing on a i7 machine...

let's fork ;-)




on ubuntu 15.04

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git
sudo apt-get install libdb++-dev
sudo apt-get install build-essential libtool autotools-dev autoconf pkg-config libssl-dev
sudo apt-get install libboost-all-dev
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bitcoin/bitcoin
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libdb4.8-dev libdb4.8++-dev
sudo apt-get install libminiupnpc-dev
git clone https://github.com/satoshisbitcoin/satoshisbitcoin/
cd satoshisbitcoin
./autogen.sh
./configure
make
make install # optional


remember to make a backup of your .bitcoin folder

Thanks for listing the build instructions (and reminding people to backup the .bitcoin datadir).

Just make sure you are on the "0.11.2_PublicTest_At403562" branch in the github repo. It is the current default.

To double check the file "src/clientversion.cpp", it should specify "SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562" as the version name. If you see something different you have a different branch as active and you need to run "git branch 0.11.2_PublicTest_At403562" to switch files before building. This branch forks at the 403562 height and auto shuts down after 10K blocks.

We now have 5 nodes on the trial fork.

[corsaro]

thanks.

yes, I checked it

"SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562"

I am running it as full node (15 connections)

[rocks]

• The POW algorithm will changed to re-enable CPU mining

Hahaha, good luck with that.

1) This a modified version of scrypt was created by people with extensive experience porting software algorithms into both ASIC and FPGA implementations. Anything can be done in and ASIC, but the design used provides very little benefit over a lite-weight CPU core, it is likely the most cost efficient implementation will be a very cheap ARM core connected to a stick of DRAM.

2) The algorithm will be modified if/when needed to keep CPU mining. This will be part of the code base on the official launch version of the client. By forcing changes into the POW algorithm if needed, this lowers the benefit of optimizing in the first place since the time frame to gain a benefit is low.

CPU exclusive mining is pretty much a lie. Virtually every hashing algo advertised as being CPU only can be mined much more efficienctly with GPUs, FPGAs and later with ASICs if it's worth sinking the money into R&D.

What few algos left for which CPUs are not completely useless compared to GPUs (eg.: cryptonight, scrypt-jane with high n-factor) will end up being controlled by botnets which should be avoided.

All in all, I think this fork will never lift off the ground and it will only cause confusion.

The great thing about Bitcoin is that everyone gets to decide for themselves what Bitcoin should be, what constitutes a valid block and what chain to follow. This project is for people who want to give a larger block and CPU fork of the bitcoin main chain a try. People who disagree or don't care are not impacted and don't have to participate.

That said, the current CPU-only attempts were clearly done by people who have zero experience making hardware accelerated versions of software. Heck the Litecoin parameters were optimized for GPU mining, the memory size picked perfectly fit into modern GPU's core caches...

If you have VHDL or Verilog design experience we'd love to hear how you would make an optimized version of the current code proposal. That will help us make it better.

As a fallback, the official launch version of the forked chain will include mechanisms to require a POW change if the hash rate rises to a level where it is clear ASIC or FPGA optimization has happened. This will force a new round of user-led consensus to select a new POW to maintain CPU mining. We might even see multiple branches appear for a time until the market picks a winner, that is fine and the way Nakamoto consensus is suppose to work.

[rocks]

thanks.

yes, I checked it

"SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562"

I am running it as full node (15 connections)

Great! Welcome to the trial. The purpose is to monitor how the fork behaves, this includes everything from making sure the miner functions well with low stale/orphan rates to making sure the network partitions well post fork. Feel free to monitor your debug.log and report any issues. There have been several trial forks already without issue, but this trial is to make sure it works for others.

You can try running "bitcoin-cli getpeerinfo" to check that you are connected to other nodes forking, you should see at least a few nodes who's version shows they are following the fork before the fork activates. After the fork activates your client should start to drop standard nodes and only connect to forked nodes. The new DNSSeed should automate all of this.

Here is the current list of nodes running
https://bitnodes.21.co/nodes/?q=/SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562:0.11.2/

[corsaro]

thanks.

yes, I checked it

"SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562"

I am running it as full node (15 connections)

Great! Welcome to the trial. The purpose is to monitor how the fork behaves, this includes everything from making sure the miner functions well with low stale/orphan rates to making sure the network partitions well post fork. Feel free to monitor your debug.log and report any issues. There have been several trial forks already without issue, but this trial is to make sure it works for others.

You can try running "bitcoin-cli getpeerinfo" to check that you are connected to other nodes forking, you should see at least a few nodes who's version shows they are following the fork before the fork activates. After the fork activates your client should start to drop standard nodes and only connect to forked nodes. The new DNSSeed should automate all of this.

Here is the current list of nodes running
https://bitnodes.21.co/nodes/?q=/SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562:0.11.2/

with getpeerinfo I can see 4 fork nodes connected "SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562"

[rocks]

thanks.

yes, I checked it

"SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562"

I am running it as full node (15 connections)

Great! Welcome to the trial. The purpose is to monitor how the fork behaves, this includes everything from making sure the miner functions well with low stale/orphan rates to making sure the network partitions well post fork. Feel free to monitor your debug.log and report any issues. There have been several trial forks already without issue, but this trial is to make sure it works for others.

You can try running "bitcoin-cli getpeerinfo" to check that you are connected to other nodes forking, you should see at least a few nodes who's version shows they are following the fork before the fork activates. After the fork activates your client should start to drop standard nodes and only connect to forked nodes. The new DNSSeed should automate all of this.

Here is the current list of nodes running
https://bitnodes.21.co/nodes/?q=/SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562:0.11.2/

with getpeerinfo I can see 4 fork nodes connected "SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562"

For this trial the DNSSeed contains 4 nodes known to be running the fork, so that is probably what you are connected to after first starting up. As long as you see at least one connected node with the subversion tag shown as "SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562:0.11.2" then you will be connected to the forked network after it activates. Thanks for confirming that you connected to these 4 nodes, it helps to know the DNSSeed mechanism is working as it should.

[corsaro]

thanks.

yes, I checked it

"SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562"

I am running it as full node (15 connections)

Great! Welcome to the trial. The purpose is to monitor how the fork behaves, this includes everything from making sure the miner functions well with low stale/orphan rates to making sure the network partitions well post fork. Feel free to monitor your debug.log and report any issues. There have been several trial forks already without issue, but this trial is to make sure it works for others.

You can try running "bitcoin-cli getpeerinfo" to check that you are connected to other nodes forking, you should see at least a few nodes who's version shows they are following the fork before the fork activates. After the fork activates your client should start to drop standard nodes and only connect to forked nodes. The new DNSSeed should automate all of this.

Here is the current list of nodes running
https://bitnodes.21.co/nodes/?q=/SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562:0.11.2/

with getpeerinfo I can see 4 fork nodes connected "SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562"

For this trial the DNSSeed contains 4 nodes known to be running the fork, so that is probably what you are connected to after first starting up. As long as you see at least one connected node with the subversion tag shown as "SatoshisBitcoinFullFork_PublicTest_At403562:0.11.2" then you will be connected to the forked network after it activates. Thanks for confirming that you connected to these 4 nodes, it helps to know the DNSSeed mechanism is working as it should.

I have launched daemon with -gen option...
is it ok ?

[rocks]

I have launched daemon with -gen option...
is it ok ?

Yes, that option turns the miner on when the node starts up. The miner will run before the fork activates which is fine, it won't find any blocks since difficulty is too high but this way it will automatically already be running when the fork activates. After the activation block you should start to see mined blocks in your debug.log file. Depending on your CPU you might find a block every 10 minutes or so until difficulty re-adjusts at the next difficulty re-adjustment.

[rocks]

So far the trial is working as it should. We are on block 403597 right now. My nodes are connected to 10 other nodes and a forked branch is successfully being built. Some blocks are being mined by my node, many blocks are being mined and sent from other participating nodes.

This was just a trial run for the official launch later next month, but so far everything is functioning correctly.

[corsaro]

I have launched daemon with -gen option...
is it ok ?

Yes, that option turns the miner on when the node starts up. The miner will run before the fork activates which is fine, it won't find any blocks since difficulty is too high but this way it will automatically already be running when the fork activates. After the activation block you should start to see mined blocks in your debug.log file. Depending on your CPU you might find a block every 10 minutes or so until difficulty re-adjusts at the next difficulty re-adjustment.

some blocks found during the night

[Godson_Mansa]

Just make a new shitcoin like everyone else

[spiler]

Interesting, join in this project...

[rocks]

some blocks found during the night

Yes, this was discussed in the main thread at
https://bitco.in/forum/threads/announcement-bitcoin-project-to-full-fork-to-flexible-blocksizes.933/

Difficulty for the trial was intentionally set low in order to test a fast block scenario that might happen if many people joined the fork quickly. In this test blocks were coming every few minutes and orphan/stale rates remained reasonable.

For the actual launch difficulty will be set higher to a level where an expected number of nodes joining would mine 10 minute blocks. Of course if the project became very popular we might have fast blocks until the next difficulty adjustment.

Since this trial is just a test branch the mined blocks are worthless, but it is fun to have mined blocks in your wallet even if it is just a trial run.

Hopefully this also incentivizes people to launch nodes/miners for the actual launch. If Bitcoin miners and Blockstream refuse to raise the 1MB limit and Bitcoin usage stalls, then some altcoin probably will replace Bitcoin. This fork has a reasonable chance of being that replacement option because it preserves long-term holders' coins, and also provides the option to CPU mine early coins during the fork.

[TripleHeXXX]

Can I just say, this is fucking stupid.

[conv3rsion]

Any update?

[corsaro]

Any update?

reading main thread, https://bitco.in/forum/threads/announcement-bitcoin-project-to-full-fork-to-flexible-blocksizes.933/
it seems that rocks is actually working at the definitive client for the fork

it seems that there will be a dedicated web site too

[shorena]

Any update?

reading main thread, https://bitco.in/forum/threads/announcement-bitcoin-project-to-full-fork-to-flexible-blocksizes.933/
it seems that rocks is actually working at the definitive client for the fork

it seems that there will be a dedicated web site too

Would it be possible to launch without the old blockdata? I think this would attract more people to join in. It should be enough to keep the UTXO as it was at a certain block. For the ultra paranoid this UTXO could still be verified using the pre fork bitcoin blockchain. For everyone else it would be 70GB less to start. Im not sure how viable this is to implement given the current state of the development.