What Does the Upcoming Fourth Upgrade Bring?
Despite the end of the hash rate war, replay attacks and its aftermath pushed BCH prices to historic lows. However, beyond market trends, "the community continues making progress." CTOR helped BCH resolve block propagation bottlenecks, while projects like Compact Blocks, Xthin Blocks, Graphene, and Xthinner achieved notable advancements. The privacy tool CashShuffle launched successfully, and multiple node client versions emerged.
On May 15, 2019, the BCH network will undergo its fourth protocol upgrade. When the median time of the last 11 blocks (MTP-11) reaches or exceeds UNIX timestamp 1557921600, BCH will execute a consensus rules upgrade per this specification. Starting from the next block, these changes take effect:
Activation of Schnorr Signatures
Enable SegWit Recovery
Both BCH and BTC currently use ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm) for transaction verification. Each input requires ~80-byte signatures, increasing miner fees for multiple inputs.
Schnorr Signatures
- Proposed by German mathematician Claus Schnorr
Advantages over ECDSA:
- Enables signature aggregation for multisig transactions
- Improves efficiency and reduces bandwidth usage
- Enhances privacy without malleability issues
- Originally considered by Satoshi but avoided due to patent concerns
SegWit Recovery Clarification
Unlike misconceptions, this doesn't mean BCH will adopt SegWit – it simply allows recovering BCH accidentally sent to SegWit addresses.
🔍 Key Distinction: Since its inception, BCH has never supported SegWit, marking a fundamental difference from BTC. The SegWit debate traces back to pre-BCH days when BitcoinCore's 2015 proposal faced opposition from developers and miners over scaling controversies.
Node Ecosystem Evolution
The upgrade also reflects shifting dynamics among node implementations:
- BitcoinABC and BitcoinUnlimited now have nearly equal market shares
- New entrants BCHD and Flowee gain visibility
On April 24, BU released v1.6.0.0 featuring:
- Schnorr/SegWit recovery support
- Graphene technology optimizations
👉 Explore BCH's technical evolution
How Should BCH Holders Prepare?
Post-upgrade protections include:
- DAA (Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm) stabilizing hash rate fluctuations
- 10-block confirmation finality preventing reorganizations
- Automatic replay protection for legacy chains
TL;DR: No new tokens will be created. Holders need no special actions – just securely store existing BCH.
FAQ
Q: Will this upgrade create a new cryptocurrency?
A: No, it's purely a protocol enhancement without token generation.
Q: Is my BCH at risk during the upgrade?
A: No. Automatic replay protection and DAA ensure network stability.
Q: Why adopt Schnorr if ECDSA works?
A: Schnorr improves efficiency (lower fees), privacy, and enables advanced smart contracts.
For deeper insights into blockchain scaling solutions, check our 👉 comprehensive guide.
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