By Bitmain, the Chinese cryptocurrency mining behemoth has officially released a new firmware update which allows BTC miners the ability to activate the Overt AsicBoost upgrade. This upgrade of course notably increases operational efficiency & greatly decreases overall costs.
The upgrade comes hot on the heels after Slush Pool, a dev group verified that Bitmain’s Antminer S9 software is capable of supporting the AsicBoost upgrade, despite the fact that it was previously disabled by the manufacturer.
Overt VS Covert?
AsicBoost boasts two different kinds of their software. Both can be utilised in order to increase operational efficiency for miners: Overt & Covert. Covert AsicBoost comes with a lot of controversy as many of its critics claim that it is responsible for miners producing small or empty blocks, which as we know, is extremely damaging to the BTC protocol.
Along with that, Covert AsicBoost also comes with numerous anonymity features which help shield the identities of miners thus making it the ideal option for miners who are seeking to remain anonymous for legal purposes.
With Overt AsicBoost on the other hand, it’s a far more efficient option than that of traditional mining methods and it does not incentivize miners to produce those small & empty blocks we mentioned earlier thus making the win-win option for all miners.
Increased Competition = AsicBoost Update:
In the company’s most recent blog post, Bitmain divulged that until recently they were, in fact, hesitant to activate AsicBoost due to a legal uncertainty pertaining to the feature. They explained:
“Initially, we decided against activating this mathematical function in mining hardware produced by us, largely because of the legal uncertainty surrounding the use of AsicBoost. As an organization, we didn’t want to violate patent laws or act in any way that was untoward. Instead, we continued to focus our efforts on R&D and building the industry’s most efficient mining chips.”
Despite their concerns, the company also noted that their decision to allow miners the ability to use the features comes as a result of stiff, increased competition from other mining companies:
“In March 2018, we noticed new manufacturers of hardware advertising the use of ‘AsicBoost’ and soon after that, we noticed blocks being mined on the blockchain using AsicBoost. To give users of our mining pools the option to mine using AsicBoost we added support for it on both BTC.COM and Antpool,” explained Bitmain.
The company also argued that they don’t believe that any one party should have the right to patent AsicBoost as all miners from all pools should have the right to “make their own choice on whether to use AsicBoost technology.”
More importantly, the company are also adamant that their decision to activate the AsicBoost features will not in any way harm the Bitcoin protocol will, of course, maintain all transparency on the network:
“Now we are pleased to give Antminer users whose miners have the capability to support this function a choice to avail this advantage without any negative impact on the Bitcoin protocol. This variant of the ‘overt AsicBoost’ simply uses version bits different from those that other manufacturers have been using. It is equally transparent because it can be seen in the blockheader of boosted blocks.”
Ultimately, Bitmain’s decision to activate AsicBoost comes with their plans for an Initial Public Offering which they believe will be boosted due to the increased efficiency found in their mining protocols which will be provided by the AsicBoost upgrade.
Could this upgrade be exactly what all miners need? Let us know your thoughts on AsicBoost.
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