The current devs believe that we should optimize existing code as much as possible before enabling SMTs. SMTs could potentially increase the number of blockchain transactions quite a lot, and we want to be sure that we are ready for that possibility.
Also, running a full Hive API node is currently quite expensive, so we still feel the number one priority is to lower that cost, so that anyone with an interest can afford to run a node. This makes the entire Hive ecosystem more decentralized (which is useful to any user who doesn't want a platform where they can be effectively be censored by a single organization).
The roadmap for the next hardfork after the upcoming one hasn't been set yet (neither feature set or estimated release date have been discussed). So I'm not yet sure how many hardforks we will have this year. Realistically, I would expect there will just be one or two more hardforks this year after the upcoming one, as we've almost hit the half way point for the year already.
At this moment, I would expect SMTs to be released this year. But we haven't done any review yet of the current state of the SMT code (in terms of functionality, performance, code quality, etc), so it's a bit early to be certain about the timing.
The current devs believe that we should optimize existing code as much as possible before enabling SMTs. SMTs could potentially increase the number of blockchain transactions quite a lot, and we want to be sure that we are ready for that possibility.
Also, running a full Hive API node is currently quite expensive, so we still feel the number one priority is to lower that cost, so that anyone with an interest can afford to run a node. This makes the entire Hive ecosystem more decentralized (which is useful to any user who doesn't want a platform where they can be effectively be censored by a single organization).
I believe you bring an essential perspective, it is important to save cost.
Does this mean that there are going to be more hard-forks before smt-one? Do you think we could get the smt's this year?
The roadmap for the next hardfork after the upcoming one hasn't been set yet (neither feature set or estimated release date have been discussed). So I'm not yet sure how many hardforks we will have this year. Realistically, I would expect there will just be one or two more hardforks this year after the upcoming one, as we've almost hit the half way point for the year already.
At this moment, I would expect SMTs to be released this year. But we haven't done any review yet of the current state of the SMT code (in terms of functionality, performance, code quality, etc), so it's a bit early to be certain about the timing.
good to know this is being done, yeah, that's important to reduce the costs of running a full node.