Thomas Voegtlin: Blocksize, Bitcoin Unlimited, ASICBoost and Activating SegWit

Years into the great Bitcoin scaling debate no solution is in reach. Neither bigger blocks nor Segregated Witness have anywhere near consensus support. With the conflict escalating, a Bitcoin fork has become a real possibility.Electrum Developer Thomas Voegtlin joined us to discuss the state of the Bitcoin scaling debate. We discussed Bitcoin Unlimited, ASICBoost, SegWit activation without miner support and how a Bitcoin fork could play out. Possible outcomes include that Bitcoin Unlimited gains a majority of hashing power and starts mining bigger blocks. In the event of a fork, a proof-of-work change could be done to defend the minority chain from miner attacks. And lately a proposal was brought forward to activate SegWit without the support of the hashing power.Topics discussed in this episode:ASICBoost and its potential role in the conflictHow a Bitcoin fork could happenHow to split coins in case of a forkHow UASF could be used to activate SegWit without miner supportRequirements for UASF to be safeHow Electrum would handle a forkEpisode links:Electrum Bitcoin WalletASICBoost – Hacker NoonBitcoin's New Controversy: The AsicBoost Allegations Explained - CoinDeskTimo Hanke on ASICBoost and SegWit Non-ActivationFrom AsicBoost to UASF: Greg Maxwell on Bitcoin's Path Forward - CoinDesk[bitcoin-dev] Thomas Voegtlin: Soft Fork Threshold Signaling ProposalUASF Working Group[bitcoin-dev] Greg Maxwell: I do not support the BIP 148 UASFThomas Voegtlin: Electrum, SPV Wallets And Bitcoin Aliases — EpicenterThis episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/179