Unintentional consequences of SPV mining: How did it contribute to the Ethereum fork
As one of the pioneers of the decentralized internet, Ethereum was at the forefront of the digital revolution. However, like any complex technology, its development and maintenance were not without their challenges. Such a challenge was the infamous hard fork that took place in 2016, which was precipitated by the introduction of SPV mining (Sub-Pairwise Verrifier).
What is SPV mining?
SPV mining is a method of validating transactions in the Ethereum network using a technique called “proof of sum” (POS). Instead of relieving exclusively on the consensus algorithm with the proof of intensive energy consumption (POW), which requires a significant calculation power and energy consumption, SPV mining uses a different approach. By using the digital signature algorithm of the elliptical curve (ECDSA), also known as the Secret Bitcoin key format, the miners can validate the transactions without requiring massive amounts of calculation power.
The main benefit of SPV exploitation is that it allows a more efficient and decentralized validation of the network, which in turn allows faster transaction processing times. This approach also facilitates the expansion of the network, while maintaining energy efficiency.
BIP66: A critical component in Hard Fork
In order to understand how Bip66 (Branch 1) was introduced and later led to the hard fork, we must deepen in the history of Ethereum’s development.
In 2017, the Ethereum team decided to introduce a new branch called “Mainnet”, which will serve as the main implementation of the protocol. However, they also wanted to maintain their existing code base for backward compatibility purposes. To achieve this, they created a separate branch called BIP66, which was designed to maintain the compatibility back with the initial mainnet.
BIP66 was activated in January 2017 and has introduced several key features that would eventually contribute to Hard Fork. These include:
- Ethereum Classic (etc)
: etc is a cryptocurrency that was created by the Ethereum team as an alternative implementation of the protocol. It has retained many of the same rules and mechanisms as the original Ethereum network, but with some changes.
- BIP66 Bridge : BIP66 Bridge has allowed perfect interactions between the original and etc., allowing users to switch between the two implementations without significant technical difficulties.
The Hard Fork: A consequence of the SPV minier
In February 2017, the Ethereum team announced that they will activate a hard fork called “Ethereum Classic” (etc). This decision was taken in response to the increasing popularity of BIP66 and its implications for backward compatibility.
By introducing, etc. as an alternative implementation, the Ethereum team hoped:
- Keep the compatibility back : keeping both the mainnet and etc., could maintain support for the older versions of the network, while allowing newer users.
- Avoid losing funds for users : Hard Fork has ensured that users who have invested or owned the ether will be able to use it without significant losses.
However, this decision created an unwanted consequence: the activation of BIP66 led to a fork in the Ethereum network. As more and more users have passed from mainnet to, etc., the initial Mainnet implementation has become more and more unstable.
The consequences of SPV mining
The introduction of BIP66 had significant implications for the Ethereum ecosystem:
- Increased fragmentation : The hard fork created an additional branch (etc.) which was incompatible with both mainnate and etc.
- Loss of energy efficiency : By introducing a new implementation, the energy consumption of Ethereum has increased, which makes it less energetically effective than its original POW -based architecture.
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