Bitcoin SV excels in BCH stress test preview

12th November 2018 – Bitcoin SV, the new full node implementation for Bitcoin Cash (BCH), excelled in a 10^th November preview of the BCH Professional Stress Test.

Mining groups running the new Bitcoin SV client mined by far the biggest blocks, with nChain’s BMG Pool successfully mining five 32MB size blocks. That is the largest block size ever mined on any public blockchain, and completely filled the default maximum block size currently set on the BCH protocol. In advance of the 15th November network upgrade and hash war between competing BCH implementations, this pre-test demonstrated why Bitcoin SV is a superior choice for miners over Bitcoin ABC and other full node clients.

The preview test results also validate the growing hash support for Bitcoin SV. On 11^th November, Coin.dance data estimated that Bitcoin SV now has support ranging from 58-68% of the total BCH network hash, compared to Bitcoin ABC with only 19-32%. Bitcoin SV is the first BCH implementation to cross over 50% estimated hash support since Coin.dance began reporting such data in advance of the 15^thNovember hard fork. Bitcoin SV’s support is expected to increase even more, as Mempool, a new Chinese mining pool recently launched and will run Bitcoin SV. The hash backing Bitcoin SV is sustained Proof of Work from miners committed to support the BCH network on an on-going basis.

The BCH Professional Stress Test is designed to test the BCH blockchain’s throughput capacity. Powered by Play.BCH.cash and organised independently of any BCH full node implementation team, the testing group ran a 10^th November 10 pre-test in advance of its main 17^th November test. The test team deployed a network of over 50 nodes in geographically dispersed locations and using Bitcoin SV, Bitcoin ABC and Bitcoin Unlimited client implementations. During the pre-test, the group created and sent 1,578,504 BCH transactions over a period of four hours, or around 400,000 transactions per hour.

At block height 556034, BMG Pool mined the world’s first ever 32MB block.  Just two hours later, BMG mined four more 32MB blocks almost consecutively at block heights 556045, 556046, 556048, and 556049 – with each block containing over 166,000 individual transactions. As the test team’s report observes about this “astounding” series, “[t]hese 4 blocks were all mined by BMG pool in rapid succession showing that their infrastructure is ready for blocks larger than 32MB.”  BMG Pool is the affiliated mining group of blockchain research and development company nChain.

Other mining groups that use Bitcoin SV – CoinGeek and SVPool – also mined very large blocks during the pre-test.  SVPool mined a 20.6 MB block, and CoinGeek mined a 15.4MB block.

In comparison, mining pools running Bitcoin ABC achieved much smaller blocks during the pre-test. ViaBTC mined a single 8MB block at block height 556035, but most other blocks mined using Bitcoin ABC were at most 1-2 MB during the pre-test.

The preview test confirmed that Bitcoin SV is correct about its scaling roadmap:  the BCH blockchain can handle much larger blocks and can more quickly scale for big enterprise use.  Named for the “Satoshi Vision” of Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin SV intends to restore the original Bitcoin protocol, keep it stable, and allow it to massively scale to a global network used by billions of people. For the upcoming 15th November protocol upgrade, Bitcoin SV will lift its default maximum block size to 128MB.  In contrast, Bitcoin ABC client will keep its default block cap at its current 32MB.

Bitcoin SV’s lead developer Daniel Connolly remarks: “Other developer groups said BCH software could not handle blocks above 22MB. We’ve now shown with Bitcoin SV that even 32MB size blocks can be mined.  Once we go to a 128MB default maximum block setting, I look forward to seeing even bigger blocks.  One day, we will lift the default block cap altogether so that miners can configure their own block settings.  Bigger blocks will allow more diversity of complex transaction types and more transaction fees for miners.”

In addition to scalability, stability of the BCH protocol is important. Bitcoin SV Technical Director Steve Shadders comments: “Global businesses will operate on the BCH blockchain only if its protocol remains stable, rather than facing unnecessary changes every six months by developers who want to add some experimental new OP_code or feature change.  We want to restore the BCH protocol to Satoshi’s original design, and then keep it stable just like the internet protocol does not often change.”

Shadders summarised the choice facing miners for the 15^th November hard fork: “For BCH miners around the world, the correct choice is Bitcoin SV.  We provide the path to achieve the original Satoshi Vision for Bitcoin, which will enable miners to generate more transaction revenue and remain profitable for years to come.”