Znodes Release, upcoming Hard Fork and What you need to knowWe are very happy to release
Zcoin v0.13.4.1 which includes the
Znodes release. A hard fork will happen on block 66550 and Znode payouts will begin on block 66700.
We would like to thank everyone who participated in the testnet to help us find bugs with special shoutouts to
Pickle Rick, caretaker, Nicholas, kp and Yura along with countless others who contributed their time.
We have noticed some confusion as to what this upgrade entails so hopefully we can shed some light on this:
What is a hard fork? Am I getting free coins?Thanks to the many Bitcoin 'hard forks', there's been a lot of confusion what the meaning of hard fork truly means. A
hard fork simply means that an upgrade is compulsory and that everyone has to upgrade to the new version before the hard fork block (approximately 23 December). Those that choose to remain on the old version will no longer be able to sync with the new clients and should there be any miners continuing to mine on the old version, they will form their own version of the blockchain. In most cases, the older blockchain has no value especially when it is a non contentious hard fork and it is merely to facilitate an upgrade. Only in hard forks which are contentious, when the fork is done as a result of idealogical differences and garners significant support, would there be two well maintained versions of the blockchain. Zcoin's fork on the other hand has garnered wide community support and indeed a planned upgrade in accordance with our roadmap. As such, the short answer is no,
you will not be getting free coins.
What do I need to do?Before updating, it is always good practice to do a wallet backup by going to
File > Backup Wallet. Regardless of whether you're hosting a Znode or not, everyone must make sure you
update your wallet to
Zcoin v0.13.4.1 before the hard fork date. You will be prompted for a one time
reindex. Reindex takes a while though it has been optimized to take advantage of multi core processors so should be a lot quicker than previous versions. Once you are updated, when the hard fork rolls over, you should not notice any interruptions.
If you are hosting a Znode, you can refer to this
Znode setup guide. We will be posting a video guide soon!
Should I start my Znode now?We do recommend starting your Znodes as soon as you can. Although you won't be receiving payouts until block 66700, having it active on the blockchain would place it on the Znode list ready to be queued so that there will be as little delay as possible. Setup of a Znode takes about 15 minutes and maybe an hour or more before everything is stabilized and other Znodes see you. We do recommend updating as soon as you can which would also ensure a smooth transition during hard fork. Other than that, there is no inherent benefit of starting your Znode early.
This is all too technical, I just want someone to manage my nodes for me!Although we do recommend that people host their own nodes there are many upcoming Znode providers that will be able to host this for you for a fee.
We do not endorse any particular provider though there is very little trust involved. The only thing you would need to give is your znode key (generated using
znode genkey) and your txid and index (obtained using
znode outputs). If anyone asks you for you to dumpprivkey or to send funds to them, please do not believe them.
We are compiling a list of providers and will be publishing it soon. Please contact me at
reuben@zcoin.io should you wish for your service to be listed along with your name, URL, e-mail and pricing.
Where do I go should I need help?The best place to go is our
Discord and ask either in
#znode or
#support.
There's also some commonly asked questions in our
FAQ.
What else is new?- Mandatory update from all previous versions. Hard fork at block 66550 so update has to be done before then.
- Znode enabled and Founder's reward reduction at block 66700
- Simple Znode GUI
- Optimizations to improve reindex/sync speed on multiple core systems
- Zerocoin mints now are spendable at 6 confirmations, previously 7 confirmations.
zcoin.io/znodes-release-upcoming-hard-fork-need-know/