On February 4, 2020, the Bitcoin SV network will undergo its “Genesis” hard forking upgrade. This hard fork represents a significant milestone in Bitcoin SV’s journey to restore the original Bitcoin protocol. To allow the Bitcoin SV ecosystem adequate time to prepare for the hard fork, the Bitcoin SV Node team would like to communicate the rollout and testing plan for the Genesis upgrade. The team has been hard at work for several months specifying and coding the changes required and will shortly be releasing a beta version of Bitcoin SV Node software that is compatible with the Genesis hard fork. To ensure a seamless upgrade and guide you through the Bitcoin SV hard fork we’ve created a dedicated technical support page containing all the information you might need: www.bitcoinsv.io/genesis
Public Testnets
In preparation, two public testnets have been created. The first, “Genesis Testnet” or “GT”, is set to post-Genesis activation. That means all the changes due to activate on mainnet on February 4, 2020 will be already activated on this testnet. The second, “Genesis Reset” or “GR” will follow a 48 hour reset cycle beginning 24 hours before activation, activating Genesis, then continuing for a further 24 hours until being reset again. This will allow repeated testing of the transition that is due to occur on mainnet on February 4. Technical details for these testnets along with a support channel where you can reach members of the Bitcoin SV Node team are available at the Genesis Hard Fork Support Page
Timeline of Events
We’d like to outline the timeline between now and February 4, 2020.
Beta Release and Testing – December 2019
Extensive QA testing of the beta software will already have been completed when the beta software is released. At this time, we recommend running this beta version ONLY on GT, GR, or on the Bitcoin SV Scaling Test Network (STN). We DO NOT RECOMMEND running this beta version of the Bitcoin SV Node software on the production mainnet.
Over the next week, we anticipate publishing a fully detailed specification of all Genesis changes for public scrutiny.
Further functional testing by the Bitcoin SV QA team will then commence on the public test networks. We also encourage any users of Bitcoin SV to begin testing their own applications using the Bitcoin SV Node beta software, and to further participate in the testing of the Bitcoin SV Node itself. This applies to operators of mining nodes, in addition to “blockchain listeners” – wallets, exchanges, applications and others running instances of the Bitcoin SV Node software that do not write transactions to the blockchain.
During December, a second phase of security auditing of the code will also be completed, with phase one having been completed in November. Any identified issues will be fixed and incorporated into further beta releases.
Following the beta release, the Bitcoin SV Node team may make further beta releases if bugs are identified and further fixes put in place. We will be communicating any further beta releases via the Genesis Hard Fork Support Page, but we also encourage you to join our Telegram Support Group to get more real-time communication. It is important to stay up to date during this testing phase.
Stable Release – early January 2020
Pending the results of QA testing, the Bitcoin SV Node team will designate the most recent beta release “stable” no earlier than January 1,, 2020 and no later than 2nd week of January 2020. We anticipate achieving a stable release earlier than this, but out of caution, the QA team will insist on a minimum stable period to enable soak testing and give the highest level of confidence. At this point, we will recommend upgrading all nodes on the Bitcoin SV production network (mainnet) as soon as possible in preparation for the hard fork activation anticipated around 12pm GMT on February 4, 2020.
STN activation – January 21, 2020
The Scaling test network (STN) will activate the Genesis hard fork two weeks prior to mainnet on January 21, 2020 at block height 14896.
Hard Fork Activation – February 4, 2020
The time for activation of the Genesis hard fork cannot be guaranteed precisely. This is because the block height for the activation needs to be determined prior to the release of the first Bitcoin SV beta code. If the network happens to find blocks faster or slower than average in the intervening period, it will cause the activation block to be mined slightly earlier or later than the targeted time. The Bitcoin SV Node team will be monitoring the progress of the network and will provide updates to the expected activation time as we approach February 4, 2020. The Genesis hard fork will activate on mainnet at block height 620538.
We are excited to deliver the Genesis hard fork to Bitcoin SV, and bring Bitcoin back closely to its original protocol and Satoshi Vision.
