Future Projects for Bitcoin Cash

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Bitcoin_ABC

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Building Bitcoin Cash infrastructure for a world of P2P electronic cash 为点对点的电子现金... [more]

4 years ago

In communities: Bitcoin Cash by sploit(8cc0) , Bitcoin Cash(e11c)

Bitcoin ABC is working on scaling Bitcoin Cash to handle the payments needs of billions of daily users. To that end, we made a roadmap for 2020-2022.

The following projects are also high on Bitcoin ABC’s priority list, but can not yet be timelined, given the current resources available to us.

Reference Indexer. An indexer is like a programmatic block explorer. All Bitcoin Cash businesses need an indexer in one form or another, for example for address indexing. Currently, indexing capabilities leave considerable room for improvement, as multiple groups are maintaining various “Bitcore patch” versions. We aim to create a reference indexer that won’t break as we continue developing Bitcoin ABC, thereby providing a major benefit to the ecosystem.
Mining Efficiency Improvements. There is currently a lot of inefficiency in the mining process which is costing miners money and will only get worse as blocks get larger. For example, the block is created via the getblocktemplate RPC, and submitted back via the submitblock RPC when a miner solves the Proof of Work (PoW). Because of this, the block needs to be passed in full from the node to the mining software and then back, only to be revalidated again on the node. By improving efficiency here, we can improve miner profitability.
QUIC. QUIC is a transport layer that augments and improves TCP-based applications through parallelization, with greater reliability than TCP-based solutions. The primary benefits of QUIC for Bitcoin Cash include the following.
- All traffic will be encrypted. Currently, all BCH network traffic is in the clear.
- All traffic will be authenticated. This is a prerequisite for Avalanche (see below).
- No "head of line blocking". Currently, messages need to be sent from one node to another in a sequential manner. This forces high-priority messages (such as the discovery of a new block) to wait for lower priority ones to be sent. With QUIC, it is possible to start sending the block right away, without having to wait for previous messages to be sent in full.
Avalanche Pre-Consensus. Avalanche is a method of achieving pre-consensus that secures zero-conf transactions in 3 seconds or less. Avalanche operates in parallel with proof-of-work (PoW) Nakamoto Consensus, and complements it. It can also be useful in preventing post-consensus block reorganization attacks. Avalanche messages are easy to create and transmit by default in the clear. These characteristics represent a potential security issue, if left unresolved. Thus, a prerequisite for Avalanche is encrypted channels among nodes (which QUIC provides).
Staffing Growth. Sustainably onboard more developers and support staff for communications, administration, technical support, etc.

With adequate funding in hand by 30 Apr 2020, and assuming the availability of qualified engineering talent, Bitcoin ABC can begin work immediately on the projects that will later enable us to address the above projects, and potentially others, further into the future.

These are important projects that are key to providing a solid foundation for the building of the Bitcoin Cash businesses we need to achieve the Bitcoin Cash vision and roadmap. We can not address them today. But if Bitcoin ABC is adequately funded now, we may remain on track to address them within 2 short years.