The Steemit blockchain team has officially published our release for Hardfork 20, codenamed “Velocity.” This release includes code that specifies that the Hardfork will occur on September 25th. It is a testament to the engagement of Steem stakeholders and, for many witnesses, this is the first hardfork they have participated in! In this post we’d like to cover some hardfork basics, as well as what will be needed of the witnesses and exchanges.
What Is It?
In our post announcing the release of our testnet we explained hardforks on a conceptual level, but in this post we want to discuss what hardforks mean for witnesses and users.
A hardfork is a coordinated update of the consensus rules that govern a blockchain. Steem's hardforks are controlled by the witnesses voting for a hardfork version and time. This vote happens automatically when a block is produced on a steemd version that does not match the witness' previous vote. When a version and date are approved by a super-majority of witnesses, the next block generated after the voted-on-time will activate the hardfork.
Witnesses
Witnesses should review the changes in the hardfork release. If they agree with the changes, they should run the new version of Steem at their earliest convenience. By running the new version of Steem, they are casting their vote for the changes. By choosing not to run the new version of Steem they are casting their vote not to hardfork.
Steemians
Steemians should also review the changes in the hardfork release and vote for witnesses that agree on whether they accept or reject the hardfork. To see what version of steemd a witness is running, go to https://steemd.com/witnesses and vote for them at https://steemit.com/~witnesses. The hardfork vote of the top 20 witnesses determines whether the hardfork‒and the improvements included within it‒becomes active or not. Once a hardfork becomes active it cannot be undone except via another hardfork. This process is an incredibly important part of participating on the Steem Blockchain. In many ways, this process is how we ratify amendments to the Steem “Constitution.”
Exchanges
Hardfork 20 is scheduled to go live on: Tuesday, September 25, 2018 15:00:00 UTC. In order to ensure that Steem deposits and withdrawals are maintained without any outage or interruption in service, it will be necessary to run a re-index on a separate instance/server/copy of steemd prior to the Hardfork date and then 'flip the switch' over to the new release just before the previously mentioned date/time of the Hardfork.
For technical support, we are happy to assist with the transition and answer any questions that may arise. You can contact us at [email protected] or on discord.
Steemit Blockchain Team
For details of the changes in HF20 :
https://steemit.com/steem/@steemitblog/steem-velocity-hardfork-hardfork-20
You guys know that we're in EDT now, right? Maybe listing these in UTC would be better.
They wrote it on Github in UTC & EDT:
https://github.com/steemit/steem/releases/tag/v0.20.0
Totally Agreed.
Excellent point, change made.
Thanks for the info guys! Everyone is looking forward to HF20. Lets help get @yabapmatt to the top 20!
You've made the Steemit Minute for today! Congrats!
Check out the Video Here: https://steemit.com/news/@reseller/tv18fvjg
Thank you, once again, for so clearly explaining a thing that has puzzled me somewhat. Little by little, you’re helping me gain a valuable understanding of how this all works.
This’ll be the first hardfork I’ve experienced — I’m excited to see how it changes things. Here’s hoping its implementation goes smoothly!
I think we need this to go through so we can move on to the next level. It may not solve all the issues we see, but it's progress. I'm sure it will be a hot topic at Steemfest and we should have some idea of the effects by then
Already running v0.20.0 on my primary server. Very excited for Tuesday!
Replaying now as we speak on my back up, and then my primary is on next :D
I'm not a fan of sending rewards back to the pool but hopefully it goes better than I think it will otherwise maybe I can buy some cheap Steem. lol
Congratulations! Everything seems to be progressing according to schedule. It's really interesting to try to understand how complex the construction of Steemit is. There are many things to know and understand. Thank you for guiding us! These weeks have been difficult for everyone! Steem needs to move forward and I hope this will help him grow. We are still working!
The Hardfork looks interesting. I hope there aren't any unintended bad consequences. It looks to be mostly about account creation, SBD control, and curation rewards.
Thanks for all the hard work getting this going.
Kudos Velocity. Welcome HF20.
Thanks for info
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Nice info as the race is alive for the top 20 lets see who all can make it to the top 20.....
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Hardfork 20 is a step forwards.
Hope we get a new interface, less bots, more rewards and a higher steem and sbd price, post the fork.
The fork is only going to effect those things indirectly, if at all, so don't expect big changes right away. If you're looking for a different interface, have you tried Busy.org?
Is it safe to put your key in busy?
It is. It uses SteemConnect, which is a very secure authorization app, so you don't enter it directly into Busy.org to sign in.
But is steemconnect safe to put one's key?
I was told on steemit that never enter key amywhere other than steemit...
All the apps you talk of are 3rd party apps and not official Steemit Apps
It's up to you. I use it myself, so I've judged it's safe enough to access my account via Steem connect.
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You misunderstand @prakashghai. steemit is NOT steem blockchain. steemit.com is just an app on the chain and a pretty crappy one at that. Better ones include dlive, dtube, dsound, zappl, steempeak, and on and on and on.
In fact, steemit.com is probably the LEAST secure of them. But they all work the same way, and your keys are not sent over the wire on known and trusted apps, which you can tell are such, exactly BECAUSE they use steemconnect, the vetted, correct way to use such dapps.
Alright
This is timely info from the team.
I would love to take this opportunity to thank the new digital marketers running the Steem/Steemit Twitter and Facebook Pages,these new guy(s) are so great.
A big shootout to those new guys whoever they are,they are killing it on Twitter and Facebook!
Thanks — That would be me :)
🤔
Thanks for the information. It will be great.
Great update, thanks.
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That will be very interesting things happen, will wait for that one
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Thanks @steemitblog for another clear post and for all the hard work you do! :-) Let's hope for a smooth implementation period ahead!
👍
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In my view, listing these in UTC would be better. Thanks for your creativity.
Great news. Really looking forward for it!
If a hf is not adopted by most witnesses, the hf has failed and should be dropped. Lol...
Thank you for this brief, but very informative, update @steemitblog. Since electing to "jump in" in May, this will be my first experience with a hardfork. Very interested to see how it "plays out" ...
As an American, I did not lightly pass over this. How we ratify amendments ... To our "Constitution" ... Wow! Ok, for this Steemian, your statement certainly underscores:
and
For the sake of us all, each faithfully working away to add value to our Steem blockchain, I hope "Velocity" meets and even exceeds expectations!
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That is exactly right. Steem's efficiency comes from this governance mechanism which enables us as a community to do things faster, whether it's producing blocks or hardforking, because we vote on block producers who we trust to reliably produce blocks and only approve hardforks that make Steem better. If not for this democratic component, we would all be stuck in the same stalemates and sisterforks that are plaguing other platforms. Witnesses have limited, but vital, responsibilities and it is the responsibility of the stakeholder to ensure that the witnesses they vote for share their vision for the future of Steem. The real power of Steem is that it is a tabula rasa‒it can be whatever we want it to be‒but only if we give serious thought to that vision and leverage our stake to effectuate that vision.
with respect to the value of the currency the hardfork will make it lower even more ... ... will increase it ... will be inconsequential?