Bitcoin Cash Upgrade: New Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm

Bitcoin ABC is ready with a proposal to improve on Bitcoin Cash through a hard fork without creating an alternative blockchain. The upgrade is a solution building an Emergency Difficulty Adjustment, making a more harmonious shift when the hash rate of the network rises or falls. As of November 1, the necessary client software is available for upgrading.

Bitcoin ABC 0.16.0 has been released at https://t.co/nLA7wlL5XIIncludes consensus rule change to update Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm — Bitcoin ABC (@Bitcoin_ABC) October 31, 2017

Currently, Bitcoin Cash has seen periods where miners flock to the coin if it is more profitable, or move away, leaving it to one "Unknown" entity to mine the blocks. This causes either too short or too long block time and disrupts new coin creation. Currently, mining Bitcoin Cash is less profitable than the original chain, and big mining pools have abandoned the coin:

Wallet and exchange providers have the task to upgrade to the version of ABC, in addition to working out a solution for SegWit2X.

"The original Bitcoin Cash “EDA” allowed Bitcoin Cash to survive as a minority chain but produces wild fluctuations of hashrate. This is problematic because it prevents consistently fast confirmations for users, and radically shifts the coin issuance schedule."

With the upgrade, miners may not be able to flock to Bitcoin Cash for fast block rewards, making the coin more stable.

The new project strives to achieve 10-minute blocks, but uses a new algorithm created by developer Amaury Sechet, self-described as "Bitcoin ABC Benevolent Dictator". His proposal was chosen after tests of EDA algorithms from two additional developer teams, Bitprim and nChain, independent groups with deep understanding of the Bitcoin technology.

In the past weeks, it was certain Bitcoin Cash would be evolving, but now the clarity of the version means the whole ecosystem knows how to upgrade.