Join BTCSQ Testnet

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Bitcoin Squared (BTCSQ), formerly codename "vBTC"

BTCSQ Incentivized TestNet ended at block 13600 on Dec 7, 2021. Balances from that TestNet were reflected onto MainNet.

See here for MainNet: BTCSQ.

After MainNet, a new TestNet may eventually be spun up.

See official landing page: https://veriblock.org/labs/btcsq/

vBTC is reference implementation of the Bitcoin codebase secured to Bitcoin using VeriBlock® Proof-of-Proof® ("PoP®") in an entirely Decentralized, Trustless, Transparent, and Permissionless ("DTTP®") manner.

It will be going to MainNet after sufficient public testing, and provide a reference for any other Bitcoin-based altchains wanting to secure themselves against 51% attacks by inheriting security from Bitcoin.

There will be an Incentivized TestNet split into two phases: vBTC secured by VeriBlock TestNet, and vBTC secured by VeriBlock MainNet.

Roadmap

* Last Block of Phase 2 is 13600 or Tuesday Dec 7 at 6am ET. MainNet tentative on Dec 9, 2021 at 10am ET

Update from BizDev Team on Discord, Dec 1: 

Hi everyone, we want to kick the can a few days on the BTCSQ launch. We are internally vetting some interesting bizdev opportunities that came up to see if they make sense. If they don't make sense, we will proceed as planned with a short delay, or share an updated launch plan if they check out. In the meantime, please feel free to continue mining.

New launch date TBD.

This is a tentative roadmap:

* Last Block of Phase 2 is 9200, targeted for Tuesday, Nov 30.

* [Updated 11/26/2021, Code is mainnet ready, MainNet launch target Thur, Dec 2nd ]

* [Updated 11/18/2021, pop-to-mainnet phase extended with potential final candidate - tentative Nov 26 and mainnet to Nov 29]

* [Updated 11/05/2021, pop-to-mainnet phase extended to resolve remaining sync bugs - tentative Nov 19, and hence mainnet to Nov 22]

Vbtc gantt 1028.png

* [Updated 10/28/2021, pop-to-mainnet phase extended]

* [Updated 10/20/2021, pop-to-mainnet phase extended]

* [Updated 10/01/2021, pop-to-testnet phase extended]

* [Updated 9/24/2021, pop-to-testnet phase extended a week for further bug fixing]

Notes:

  • Incentivized TestNet will be split into two phases:
    • PoP to VBK TestNet
    • PoP to VBK MainNet
  • There will be a new public website for vBTC, as its own stand-alone project.

See VeriBlock roadmap here: https://veriblock.org/roadmap/

Incentivized TestNet

Similar to VBK mining sunrise, the UTXO table of all balances from vBTC Incentivized TestNet will be reflected onto vBTC MainNet.

Whether an address gains coins from PoP mining, PoW mining, or receiving normal transactions - the end balance will be reflected.

Feedback

The primary reason for Incentived TestNet is to get feedback and widespread public testing.

If you encounter any issues, please report them on GitHub:

https://github.com/VeriBlock/vbk-ri-btc/issues

Team can than triage, active view here: https://github.com/orgs/VeriBlock/projects/1/views/5

There is also an active discussion on Discord: https://discord.gg/wJZEjry on the #btcsq channel.

Useful links

What is the benefit to owning MainNet vBTC?

vBTC will be launched as its own independent MainNet altchain.

New altchains will be incentivized to fork from vBTC instead of BTC because vBTC provides all the Bitcoin functionality, and additionally:

  • Protection against 51% attacks using the full PoW security of Bitcoin
  • Lightweight Mining - anyone can PoP mine without expensive hardware
  • Eco-Friendly - reusing Bitcoin's mining power to secure the world's blockchains

A new altchain (forked from vBTC) could potentially have lower confirmation times for exchanges due to the 51% protection and vBFI integration with exchanges.

Most projects that fork from a parent project inevitably provide more testing and feedback that can flow back up to the parent project. Therefore vBTC is posed to benefit from testing and development of all child forks.

vBTC is the flagship reference implementation that is actively supported by a development team.

So vBTC itself provides direct utility (51% protection, lightweight mining, eco-friendly, and possibly lower confirmation times for exchanges), active community testing from child forks, and a dedicated development team.

License

For any blockchain which launch based on the BTCSQ codebase and pops up to VeriBlock (which then pops to Bitcoin) - there is the standard MIT license. Very Easy.

For any new blockchains which launch based on the BTCSQ codebase, and for some reason do not pop up to VeriBlock, the license will require 10% of their total emissions to holders of BTCSQ at the time they launch.

Phase 2: Popping to MainNet VBK

Phase 1 is set to end at block 52800.

Phase 2 is set to start on Thursday, Oct 14, at 10am ET.

This will be a network reset, with balances from Phase 1 being copied over.

Some notes:

  • Next phase will have max ATVs shrunk to 100 per block. This is configured at the altchain level, so BTCSQ could have 72,000 ATVs per day. This will help robusitvity and usability, as there will be less load and bloat on the altchain. I.e. less memory, disk... faster sync times.
  • Popping to VBK MainNet does require MainNet VBK. To help facilitate testing, there will be a means to provide VBK to testers for the purpose of popping.
  • Balances as of block 52800 will be copied over to new genesis block.

As this pops to VBK MainNet, the altchain transactions will show on VBK Mainnet (Note the new altchain ID for BTCSQ: 16579303907010303):

https://explore.veriblock.org/altchain-details/16579303907010303

FAQ

What are the blockchain economics?

(These are for testnet, this will be relatively close to mainnet, but can change)

As vBTC is a reference of BTC... the economics are very similar to BTC:

  • Block reward -> 5 vBTC
  • PoP / PoW percentage? -> 50% PoW / 50% PoP
  • Halving schedule -> 1,050,000 blocks (4 years)
  • Block time -> 2 minutes
  • What is the PoW algorithm -> Sha256D

Please note that these are subject to change with the launch of vBTC MainNet, however the vBTC mirroring is guaranteed to reflect the correct percentage of the total emissions (ex: if incentivized testnet runs for 1 month with a 4-year halving, then 1 month represents 1/96 of the total authorized emissions of the protocol, so regardless of final economics the reflected vBTC from the TestNet period would reflect at least 1/96th of the total authorized emissions).

What is the PoP Payout interval?

150 BTCSQ blocks.

What are the PoP Rounds and Keystone?

There are 4 rounds: 1,2,3,4, with 4 being the keystone (having a larger reward).

Note that VBK NodeCore has 20 round indices (with 4 rounds) due to 30-second block times. See: HowTo_run_PoP_Miner#VeriBlock_.22Rounds.22

Where can I get tVBK for pop mining?

There will be tVBK faucets:

https://testnet-faucet.veriblock.org/

Are there dev pools for mining vBTC?

Yes - there anyone can run a PoW pool. And updated list will be maintained on the wiki.

See: PoW_Pools_BTCSQ

How does BTCSQ help VeriBlock?

BTCSQ greatly helps VeriBlock, as it is the reference implementation (formerly codename vBTC) that all future altchains can copy. Before other altchains would be ready for mainnet, most efficient to have BTCSQ first be mainnet-ready.

Work out the bugs first in one reference, "pave the way", and make it easier for all others.

Much of the framework is shared:

  • APM
  • NodeCore (which has much altchain support)
  • C++ Library
  • Code patterns in the BTC-based daemon
  • Reusable integration test suite

See: https://veriblock.org/roadmap/

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