Subject: Re: [bitcoindev] The Future of Bitcoin Testnet

From: Peter Todd <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 4 May 2024 17:08:23 +0000

On Thu, May 02, 2024 at 12:10:43AM -0700, Ali Sherief wrote:
> I think the effort required to remove testnet entirely would be too much to 
> work on. Replacing it with something else is a better idea to minimize 
> disruption.
> 
> In the mean time, we need to figure out a process to at least lock down the 
> testnet3 network so that no new blocks can be mined while the replacement 
> chain is commissioned. Is there a BIP with a procedure for replacing 
> testnet? How was it done last time?

It's impossible to lock down testnet and prevent new blocks from being mined.
Testnet is a decentralized PoW system, just like Bitcoin, with no central
points of control. The best we could do is 51% attack testnet.  But that's
could easily be quite expensive precisely because people are using it for
valuable applications.

-- 
https://petertodd.org 'peter'[:-1]@petertodd.org

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