Miners

Bitmain Unveils 2 Bitcoin Miners With Max Speeds Up to 110TH/s Per Unit

27/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

On Thursday, the China-based mining rig manufacturer Bitmain announced the launch of two new Antminer S19 series models that process between 95 to 110 trillion hashes per second (TH/s). The Antminer S19 Pro model with 110TH/s and 29 joules per terahash (J/TH) is 24 trillion hashes per second faster than Microbt’s latest Whatsminer M30S model (86TH/s).

Also read: Bitcoin Rich: 6 Crypto Entrepreneurs Make the 2020 Hurun Billionaire List

Bitmain Launches the S19 Series Processing Up to 110 Trillion Hashes per Second

Bitmain, one of the top mining rig manufacturers worldwide, has revealed two new machines that pack a massive amount of terahash. On February 27, the firm’s official Twitter account announced the launch of the Antminer S19 series, showing rigs that process hashrates between 95-110TH/s. The company’s website shows the machines currently have an undisclosed shipping date and the site says the dates are “to be determined (TBD).” The two S19 variants cannot be purchased just yet either. The lack of a realized shipping date might be due to the delay in Chinese shipments globally that have affected numerous Chinese bitcoin mining rig manufacturers. The website shows a picture of the two S19 Antminers and offers specifications as well.

Announcing the #Antminer S19 Series! The #AntminerS19 has 2 variants, a 95 TH/s and 90 TH/s model, with a power efficiency of 34.5±%5 J/TH. The #AntminerS19Pro has a 110 TH/s and 105 TH/s model, both with a power efficiency of 29.5±%5 J/TH. Learn more at https://t.co/2ftncwFOl2 pic.twitter.com/opW7IcZ3yZ

— Antminer_main (@Antminer_main) February 27, 2020

The Antminer S19 Pro commands up to 110TH/s and processes the SHA256 consensus algorithm (BTC, BCH, BSV). A single unit pulls 3250W from the wall and has an efficiency rating of 29 J/TH. The S19 Pro looks much larger than the average mining rig today and weighs around 15.5kg. The lower end model Antminer S19 (95 TH/s) weighs 16.5kg and pulls the same amount of wattage (3250W) off the wall.

The reference power efficiency on the wall for the lower end S19 model is also 29 J/TH. The prices for Bitmain’s next-generation miners are also unconfirmed and will likely be announced just before the sale. Besides the new S19 series, Bitmain has the most powerful miner on the market, as the S17+ packs 73 TH/s and only pulls 2920W from the wall. At press time using the current BTC exchange rates on February 27, the S17+ captures $5.72 a day with electrical rates at $0.12 per kWh.

Bitmain’s Latest Mining Rigs Outperform Microbt and Canaan’s Latest Efforts

The latest Microbt machine that’s due to launch in April claims to process 86TH/s. The Microbt Whatsminer M30S processes the SHA256 algorithm as well and pulls 3268W from the wall. If someone had their hands on a Whatsminer M30S today, the current BTC exchange rates would see the machine profit by $7.23 per day using the $0.12 per kWh rate. Below Bitmain’s S17+ and Microbt’s M30S, two more Bitmain machines capture the leading positions when it comes to the most profitable SHA256 miners. The Antminer S17 Pro and the S17e process between 53TH/s-64TH/s. Canaan’s Avalonminer 1166 claims top speeds of around 68TH/s and other notable miners today include rigs manufactured by Innosilicon and Strongu.

The latest S19 series from Bitmain comes at a time when the overall SHA256 hashrate is surpassing all-time highs. The BTC network has been coasting along above the 100 exahash per second range (EH/s), BCH has between 4-6EH/s, and BSV has 2.6EH/s today. It’s also interesting to note that a few mining rig manufacturers have seemingly stepped away from the ASIC competition. For instance, Ebang miners are no longer on the top of the high-speed mining rig list, as the latest Ebit series only capture 44TH/s per unit. For around the same price of the Ebit 44TH/s machine, you can get a Canaan Avalonminer 1166 ($1,978) with 24TH/s more hashrate.

For $350 less, people can get an Antminer S17+ from Bitmain, which is only 1TH/s fewer hashes than the Canaan Avalonminer. Other models created by companies like Bitfury, Bitfily, Holic, Aladdin, GMO, Halong, and Pantech are well below the threshold these days when it comes to profitability. This is unless of course people still use these machines with incredibly low electrical rates from certain countries.

10X the Hashrate per Unit Than the ASIC Miners Produced Four Years Ago

The S19’s are also considerably faster than machines were four years ago, as the top mining rigs in 2016 included a few models from Bitmain as well. In 2016, the firm’s original Antminer S9 processed only 12.9TH/s, but at the time it was the best machine on the market according to various reviews. Bitmain also sold the Antminer S5 and S7 series in 2016 as well and those machines only processed 1155GH/s to 4TH/s.

Four years ago besides Bitmain, both Bitfury and Canaan also ruled the ASIC manufacturing industry with Canaan’s Avalonminer 6 (3.5 TH/s) and as Bitfury announced mass producing 16nm semiconductors. In 2016, ASIC manufacturers leveraged the 28nm standard and Bitfury’s 16nm design shook the competition up. Although, the last machine Bitfury released does process 80TH/s and it utilizes more efficient 14nm chips. But it consumes 6300W off the wall and at the $0.12 per kWh rate, Bitfury Tardis machines lose $5.45 per day per unit using today’s BTC exchange rate. The top machines in the market in 2020 utilize far superior 10-7nm semiconductors and they are more than 10X faster than machines built four years ago.

What do you think about the latest S19 series of miners produced by Bitmain? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Wiki Commons, Bitmain, Canaan, Microbt, Wiki Commons, Steemit, Fair Use, and Pixabay.

Did you know you can earn BTC and BCH through Bitcoin Mining? If you already own hardware, connect it to our powerful Bitcoin mining pool. If not, you can easily get started through one of our flexible Bitcoin cloud mining contracts.

The post Bitmain Unveils 2 Bitcoin Miners With Max Speeds Up to 110TH/s Per Unit appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Get Ready for the Bitcoin Halving – Here Are 9 Countdown Clocks You Can Monitor

22/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

Get Ready for the Bitcoin Halving – Here Are 9 Reward Countdown Clocks You Can Monitor

The anticipation for the block reward halving for BTC, BCH, and BSV has been building. All three cryptocurrencies will see rewards halved from 12.5 to 6.25 coins throughout the months of April and May. The following is a comprehensive list of websites that are counting down each crypto’s reward halving in different ways, so people can monitor the data and prepare for halving parties.

Also Read: How to Check the Bitcoin Price, Hashrate, Data – The 21 Best Monitoring Sites

Clocks and Data Sites So You Can Monitor the 2020 Halving Countdowns

The great halvings are approaching and in 2020 it will be the first time in history three SHA256 networks will see reward halvings around the same time. When Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin he made it so the block mining reward halves every 210,000 blocks. When the network was first launched, miners got 50 BTC for every block they found and the rewards halved for the first time on November 28, 2012. Then another 210,000 blocks later on July 9, 2016, the BTC block reward halved again from 25 BTC to the current 12.5 BTC reward. From this point on and after the escalated scaling debate, there are now three powerful SHA256 networks (BTC, BCH, and BSV) that leverage the same consensus algorithm. All three of these networks have mining operations processing blocks from the three blockchains whenever one is more profitable than the other. Because of the network switching factor based on profitability, people are extremely curious about what will happen with all three SHA256 networks during the halving events.

Just before the halvenings, crypto enthusiasts like to monitor the situation and plan ‘halving parties’ in order to celebrate the momentous occasion. For this reason, news.Bitcoin.com has listed popular halving countdown clocks and statistical sites that show all kinds of halving data so our readers can follow along with the reward countdown.

BTC

The BTC network is scheduled to halve every 210,000 blocks and this year will be around the first or second week of May. The block reward countdown clocks online are not exactly accurate and are a rough estimate of the timeframe. This is because the overall hashrate finds blocks at different speeds and the time to capture all 210,000 blocks can be done faster or slower than expected. For instance, blocks are typically processed every 10 minutes but that time frame can be quicker than 10 minutes or even longer than the traditional rate. Usually, the timeframe to process 210,000 blocks is roughly on or around a four-year period.

Bitcoinblockhalf.com

The website bitcoinblockhalf.com is a popular countdown clock for the BTC halving and the first site to come up on Google. The website was created in January 2015 and it shows a replica of an alarm clock ticking down until the halving date. Bitcoinblockhalf.com’s clock expects the halving to happen on or around May 12, 2020. The website also includes certain data points like the current number of BTC in circulation, percentage mined, number of coins left to mine, generated BTC per day, difficulty, inflation rates, and the current BTC hashrate.

Bitcoin Halving – Brave New Coin

The statistics on Brave New Coin’s halving page show a few different countdowns. There are actually four scenarios and countdowns for May 6, 9, and two different May 11 forecasts. “This page is dedicated to estimating the date and time of the next Bitcoin Block Reward Halving,” explains Brave New Coin’s stats page. “We have created four scenarios based on different block time metrics. Each scenario is a moving estimate and the timestamp, charts, and values shown on this page are re-calculated daily.” Users interested in monitoring the page get a different perspective than a simple countdown clock.

Binance Academy – Bitcoin Halving Countdown

Binance also has a statistical page dedicated to the BTC halving and the countdown from Binance Academy says 79 days until the halving. The stats page also shows the current block height, how many blocks are left until the halving, and the current BTC price. The site also gives people educational information on the halving by answering frequently asked questions like “What is a block halving?,” “Why are halvings significant?,” and “How many Bitcoin halvings have there been previously?”

Bitcoinclock.com

If you want to monitor the halving countdown using an old analog clock then bitcoinclock.com is the site for you. It shows an antiquated analog clock ticking down until the halving but everything is done in minutes. The website also explains what the halving is and how it happens every four years or so and it expects the 2020 halving to take place on May 8. Bitcoinclock.com also lists a number of articles that give resourceful information about previous halvings in 2012 and 2016. The website is much older than the bitcoinblockhalf.com website because it was created in 2011. Bitcoinclock.com also notes that online countdown clocks are not super accurate. “While most of the other sites estimate the halving for late-May, the more likely outcome is an early-May reward halving,” explains the website.

BCH

Coingecko – Bitcoin Cash Halving

Bitcoin Cash is expected to halve before the BTC chain’s halving date and a few websites estimate it will be around one month prior. Coingecko offers a BCH countdown clock which estimates the halving will take place on Tuesday, April 7, 2020. This would be 45 days away with the current block height at 623,402. Coingecko’s BCH halving page is pretty straightforward with few frills or educational resources. The data from the site is powered by the block explorer Blockchair.

Coinsalad – Bitcoin Cash Halving

Coinsalad’s BCH halving countdown shows an alarm clock-like timer that expects the BCH network to halve on April 8, 2020, 7:14 am EDT. The webpage notes that BCH rewards halve every 210,000 blocks and BCH will see the reward slashed from 12.5 to 6.25 blocks after this date. Again, like many of the other countdown to the halving web pages, Coinsalad notes its clock is not entirely accurate. “This is a simple countdown timer that calculates the targeted halvening block height minus the current block height multiplied by the Bitcoin 10 minute block time interval (X – Y) * 10 * 60,” the page details. “This is an estimate and won’t be 100% accurate since not all Bitcoin blocks are found exactly in 10-minute intervals due to the time in between difficulty adjustments.”

Bitcoincashblockhalf.com

This webpage created on January 8, 2020, is identical to the bitcoinblockhalf.com website mentioned above but is dedicated to the Bitcoin Cash network instead. Similarly to Coingecko and Coinsalad, Bitcoincashblockhalf.com’s data shows the BCH halving is 45 days away and will be on or around April 8, 2020. Just like the website’s predecessor, it also contains data points that apply to the BCH halving like BCH in circulation, percentage mined, number of coins left to mine, generated BCH per day, and the network’s current hashrate.

BSV

Coingecko – Bitcoin SV Halving

Bitcoin SV fans can find the halving date for BSV on a few different websites including Coingecko. Currently, Coingecko’s data which is also derived from Blockchair notes that the BSV halving will happen in 50 days or Sunday, April 12. “The number of Bitcoin SV found per block will become more scarce and this halving reward ensures that Bitcoin SV total supply will reach 21 million,” explains Coingecko. Again, the website does not include charts or any other educational information about the Bitcoin SV halving except for the countdown clock.

Watch All Three Networks at the Same Time

Blockchair – Bitcoin 2020 Halving Tools

Bitcoin enthusiasts who want to see all the countdown clocks on one single page can reference the Blockchair website for stats on all three networks. Blockchair’s tools page on the 2020 halvings shows BTC (79 days), BCH (45 days), and BSV (47 days). The stats page also shows the current block and blocks remaining until the halving on each network. From each countdown window, users can toggle directly to each network’s block explorer for more data on these three networks.

The term “bitcoin halving” has been trending on Google and the event has always been anticipated and watched by crypto supporters worldwide. For now, observers can only monitor the countdown and market prices leading up to the reward halvings and no one truly knows what will happen. That hasn’t stopped speculative theories and lots of discussions from forming about the halving subject which is at the forefront of a lot of people’s minds.

What do you think about all the countdown clocks and monitoring tools available for the BTC, BCH, and BSV halvings? Let us know what you think about these applications in the comments below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Coingecko, Brave New Coin, Coinsalad, bitcoinblockhalf.com, bitcoincashblockhalf.com, Blockchair, Jamie Redman, Fair Use, and Pixabay.

Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see what’s happening in the industry.

The post Get Ready for the Bitcoin Halving – Here Are 9 Countdown Clocks You Can Monitor appeared first on Bitcoin News.

BCH Funding Debate: Amaury Séchet Responds to IFP Questions, Noting Contention in the West

22/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

On February 20, Bitcoin Cash engineers held the second 2020 BCH developers’ meeting and the first since the Infrastructure Funding Plan (IFP) was added to the Bitcoin ABC version 0.21.0 client. Seven developers discussed new features that are coming after the May upgrade, but a majority of the conversation focused on the ongoing IFP discussion.

Also Read: BCH Funding Debate: Developers Plan to Launch IFP-Free Version of Bitcoin ABC

Second Bitcoin Cash Dev Meeting Convenes: Upgrade Features and the Infrastructure Funding Plan

During the last few weeks, BCH supporters have been fervently discussing the proposed Infrastructure Funding Plan (IFP). On Feb. 15, news.Bitcoin.com reported on Bitcoin ABC’s plan to add support for IFP within the 0.21.0 client release and the team published the implementation a few days later. Our newsdesk also covered Btc.top founder Jiang Zhuoer’s latest blog post about the IFP concept and opinions from other businesses and members of the BCH community. Following the announcement from Zhuoer, a group of well-known developers announced the release of a new Bitcoin ABC client, “BCH Node,” a project that plans to strip the IFP from the codebase. The Infrastructure Funding Plan has been a hot topic in Bitcoin Cash land, to say the least, and the Feb. 20th developers’ meeting focused on this topic.

Competent and calm #BitcoinCash professionals discuss the coming May Upgrade; Longer ancestor chains, OP_REVERSEBYTES, the IFP, Upgrade Testnet and much more.

2nd #BCH Public Dev Meeting of 2020 video available at https://t.co/jg54uZncpy & https://t.co/6vpnGFulqf pic.twitter.com/Dq1kXVJZI9

— Bitcoin Cash (@BitcoinCash) February 21, 2020

The meeting included Bitcoin ABC’s Antony Zegers, Jason B. Cox, Amaury Séchet, Bitcoin.com’s Chris Troutner, Be.cash developer Tobias Ruck, Bitpay’s Matias Garcia, and Josh Green from Bitcoin Verde. When the group was asked who wanted to speak on the IFP subject, Séchet spoke up and said: “I can do it.”

“[IFP] came out because of repeated requests from the Chinese community, and it’s been going on for like more than two years now,” Séchet stressed. “They want to have an infrastructure protocol and this is not a very controversial idea in China, but this is obviously a very controversial idea in the West.” He further stated:

So we talked to some miners and we came up with a plan that we implemented and now it’s in the hands of miners to activate it or not. Where things stand right now, as far as people have seen, they are not voting for it and the reason is because this is controversial in the [Western Hemisphere].

The Solution at Hand and Alternatives

Séchet further said that miners obviously don’t want to damage BCH and right now they see the contention. He thinks BCH miners are waiting to see what will happen, noting that they expect the community to come up with alternatives if the IFP is contentious. Séchet said he thinks they should work on a solution; if “we work on that, I think we can make everyone happy,” he remarked. Bitcoin.com developer Chris Troutner also asked Séchet about the whitelist (dev group addresses that would receive funding from the IFP if executed). The Bitcoin ABC developer said if there’s an “alternative then they (miners) are willing to go through with that if the community prefers an alternative and if that alternative works.”

During the second Bitcoin Cash developers meeting, programmers also discussed new upgrade features like the chained transaction limit bump from 25 to 50, Sigchecks, and the opcode OP_Reversebytes. Check out the video below to watch the second 2020 BCH developers’ meeting in its entirety. The entire video meeting is about an hour and 46 minutes long and the developers also fielded questions from the audience. People interested in fast-forwarding to Séchet’s statements and the IFP discussion can find the start of that specific conversation at the 14-minute mark. The IFP debate continues to unfold and our newsdesk will be there every step of the way to keep our readers informed.

What do you think about the second BCH developers’ meeting of 2020 and the IFP discussion? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Youtube.

Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH, and other coins, on our market charts at Bitcoin.com Markets, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com.

The post BCH Funding Debate: Amaury Séchet Responds to IFP Questions, Noting Contention in the West appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Coronavirus Quarantine Controls and Shipping Delays Impact Bitcoin Miners

21/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

During the first week of February, a few of the top mining rig manufacturers from China revealed they were forced to postpone device shipments due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Regional reports from the country now disclose that shipments will be delayed even longer and Chinese mining rig companies and second-market suppliers are feeling significant stress from the situation.

Also read: Hong Kong Crypto Exchange Bitspark Shuts Down Amid Coronavirus Outbreak and Protests

Coronavirus Continues to Delay Mining Rig Shipments

The coronavirus outbreak has been a trending topic worldwide, as the virus has spread since it was first identified in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, China. More recently the virus has been affecting the bitcoin industry because a large number of businesses and mining operations stem from China.

At the end of January, Microbt announced that miner shipments would be delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The mining rig manufacturers Canaan and Bitmain also issued similar notices. On February 1, Ebang published a post on Wechat that notified customers about a delay as well. Weeks later and after the delay dates were supposed to be lifted, reports detail that mining rig manufacturers and suppliers are still being held up by coronavirus shipping delays.

On February 14, 8btc’s Vincent He interviewed a mining equipment vendor from Huaqiang North, a large distribution center for mining rigs. Miss Hu told the columnist “After waiting for a long time for bitcoin halving, my store couldn’t open.” The vendor explained that delays were issued twice already and she doesn’t know “if there will be any changes.” Even the aftermath may affect her sales as she believes newcomers might not visit the store over the risk of infection. Additionally, 8btc discussed the subject with Bitmain’s sales director Xiaojun Fan who stressed deliveries are still delayed. Fan noted that employees are unable to get back to work because of the coronavirus quarantine controls which in turn are affecting the mining rig supply chain.

Will the Coronavirus Affect the Overall Hashrate and Upcoming Bitcoin Halving?

Moreover, Btc.top founder Jiang Zhuoer discussed the coronavirus outbreak affecting mining operations on Weibo. “It is understandable to take our employees’ temperatures, call the roll and forbid them to go out, but how does shutting down mining machines help in quarantine controls? If we go on like this, most of the people (especially the laboring people in the front line) will have to die of poverty without suffering from the virus,” Zhuoer said. The comment came after one of his mining farms in Xinjiang was forced to shut down temporarily.

It is estimated that 65% of the global SHA256 hashrate resides in China and some speculators believe BTC’s recent difficulty adjustment dropped because of the coronavirus quarantine controls. BTC’s hashrate was averaging around 110 exahash per second (EH/s) all the way until February 15 but the hashpower dropped to around 97 EH/s on February 19. Because it hasn’t dropped too much, people assume there’s a possibility miners outside of China are carrying the weight. The delay is awfully close to the reward halving as well on chains like BTC, BCH, and BSV. As of today, there are 80 days left until BTC’s halving takes place and BCH and BSV will see halvings one month prior.

Additionally, 8btc’s recent report highlights that if the epidemic gets worse mining operations located in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, and Yunnan could “suffer [from] losses.” At press time, next-generation miners like the T and S 17 series manufactured by Bitmain are scheduled to ship during the first week of April.

What do you think about the coronavirus affecting the bitcoin mining industry and mining rig supply chain? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Twitter, Wiki Commons, Fair Use, BBC, and Pixabay.

Do you want to maximize your Bitcoin Mining potential? Plug your own hardware into the world’s most profitable Bitcoin mining pool or get started without having to own hardware through one of our competitive Bitcoin cloud mining contracts.

The post Coronavirus Quarantine Controls and Shipping Delays Impact Bitcoin Miners appeared first on Bitcoin News.

BCH Funding Debate: Developers Plan to Launch IFP-Free Version of Bitcoin ABC

20/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

On February 19, a group of well known software developers announced the launch of a new Bitcoin Cash full node with the Infrastructure Funding Plan (IFP) removed from the codebase. The news was announced on the read.cash platform by the developer Freetrader who told the public that strong demand from businesses, miners, mining pools, and developers invoked the team to create a “minimally-altered client based on Bitcoin ABC.”

Also Read: BCH Funding Debate: Btc.top Founder Suggests 2/3 Hash Vote and 6-Month Evaluation

Developers Announce a Bitcoin ABC Node Is in the Works With the Infrastructure Funding Plan Stripped from the Code

The last week in Bitcoin Cash land has been filled with a lot of arguments and debate over the Infrastructure Funding Plan’s (IFP) latest developments. Just recently news.Bitcoin.com reported on the Bitcoin ABC team announcing they would add code for the IFP to the ABC version 0.21.0 client. The code was released on February 18 and included a few other features as well.

Bitcoin ABC 0.21.0 release for 2020 May 15 upgrade is here!https://t.co/1C6zNZpYRl

Includes improved SigOps counting, OP_REVERSEBYTES, bump tx chain limit from 25 to 50 and support for the infra funding plan.

Release notes: https://t.co/QZVFgS7bAr

— Bitcoin ABC (@Bitcoin_ABC) February 18, 2020

After the latest ABC client published, a group of programmers revealed the creation of a “minimally-altered client based on Bitcoin ABC.” The announcement was written by one of the earliest developers within the BCH ecosystem, Freetrader, and he explained that “prominent Bitcoin businesses, miners, mining pools, and developers” requested the alternative implementation. “The only difference between the new client and ABC v0.21.0 is the removal of the coinbase reward diversion code and its associated signaling and activation,” Freetrader explained.

“The primary goal of this initiative is to provide a safe and professional node implementation that will neutrally follow the longest chain without contributing to the risk of a chain split,” wrote Freetrader. “The client is called Bitcoin Cash Node (BCH Node) and will function as a drop-in replacement for miners and businesses already running the ABC client.”

The BCH Node Developers Are Speaking With Exchanges, Miners, and Mining Pools

The developers who are contributing to the project include well known BCH devs like Andrea Suisani (Sickpig) of Bitcoin Unlimited, Calin Culianu (Nilacthegrim) of Electron Cash, Dagur V. Johannsson, Emergent Reasons, Fernando Pelliccioni of Knuth Node, Freetrader formerly of Bitcoin ABC, Imaginary Username, Jt Freeman of fountainhead.cash, Jonathan Silverblood, Joshua Green of Bitcoin Verde, Mark Lundeberg, and Tom Zander of Flowee the Hub. Every developer on the list also left their PGP signature, to make it known that their identities are really involved with the new node project.

Miners wishing to vote against the IFP now have a drop-in replacement for ABC while still remaining compatible for the May Upgrade. https://t.co/XSViTdeovW

— Joshua Green (@joshmgreen) February 20, 2020

According to Freetrader, the team is actively in discussions with exchanges, miners, and mining pools that are interested in the initiative. The developers have created a number of communication channels and the team says the code for the software will be available soon. Additionally, “a more detailed near-term plan” will follow the software release.

If you are here for 10x, then do whatever you want with your block reward.

If you are here for 1000x and something with even a chance of standing shoulder to shoulder with digital fiat, don’t even think about touching the block reward.

— emergent_reasons#100🌵 (@EmergentReasons) February 19, 2020

The Bitcoin Cash Node (BCH Node) topic has been trending on Twitter among BCH proponents and there are multiple threads on the Reddit forum r/btc as well. The Bitcoin ABC camp has released the ABC version 0.21.0 client and a blog post that explains the “May 15th, 2020 protocol upgrade is locked in.”

At the time of publication, there are roughly 1,435 publicly accessible BCH nodes and more than half of them support Bitcoin ABC (51.52%) and the lesser half supports the BU client (46.73%). Currently, only a small number of full nodes run BCHD, Flowee or other BCH clients. During the early morning hours on February 20, news.Bitcoin.com spoke with the developer Emergent Reasons and asked him why Freetrader and the group of other devs were doing this.

“What brings everyone together on Bitcoin Cash Node is a practical desire to unite the BCH ecosystem and avoid a very damaging split,” Emergent Reasons told our newsdesk. “Even though Jiang Zhuoer, the original author of the IFP, has said that he will mine against the IFP for May, BCH is still at risk of activation by hostile pools. If it is activated, there is a high chance of a soft fork hash war and possibly a persistent chain split. Based on recent evidence, we expect that the result would be an exodus of talent from BCH due to loss of network effect, perceived loss of moral high ground and other reasons. Especially the loss of network effect could cause permanent damage to the viability of P2P electronic cash.” Emergent Reasons further added:

Bitcoin Cash Node removes the activation and IFP code so that BCH can, as suggested by Jiang Zhuoer in his most recent update, have time to develop and pursue voluntary methods. The silver lining of the conflict is that it has renewed interest in accountability, communication, transparency and using BCH-based technology to achieve voluntary funding.

Additionally, Freetrader published another read.cash post that explains the perspective of those who are working on the IFP-free ABC node. Freetrader’s post highlights that he has strong objections to the current plan, but he wholeheartedly believes the community at large has “numerous objections” that need to be heard too. The developer thinks the community could reach an agreement and it “seems possible” from his perspective. “Let’s try to construct a better path together – one which lets all future participants in the system enjoy the same economic freedoms that we have enjoyed in Bitcoin before, and Bitcoin Cash since 2017,” Freetrader conceded at the end of his post. In addition to the follow up post, the Asicseer.com pool has pledged 100 BCH toward the BCH Node effort. Moreover, an alternative website for bitcoincash.org is being created, the developer Pokkst disclosed on the Reddit forum r/btc.

If you want to read Freetrader’s posts in their entirety then you can check out the announcement here and also the follow-up post he wrote on Thursday. The IFP debate and discussion is continuing to unfold and news.Bitcoin.com will be there to inform our readers every step of the way.

What do you think about the discussions revolving around the IFP subject? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Coin Dance, Twitter, Bitcoin.com, Fair Use, Read.cash, and Pixabay.

The post BCH Funding Debate: Developers Plan to Launch IFP-Free Version of Bitcoin ABC appeared first on Bitcoin News.