Bitcoin Core Developer Greg Maxwell: Sidechain BIP May Be Launched Soon

At the Bitcoin Foundation’s DevCore developer workshop held at Draper University recently, Bitcoin Core developer Greg Maxwell revealed that the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal ( BIP ) to formally add two-way peg sidechains may be completed in the next few months.

The concept of sidechains gained popularity after Blockstream co-founders Adam Back and Austin Hill discussed it on the Let’s Talk Bitcoin podcast.

The concept of decentralized sidechains has been highly anticipated by the Bitcoin community because it allows developers to implement and test new ideas on alternative blockchains more easily without having to create a new cryptocurrency or altcoin. The current test version of the sidechain, Elements Alpha, is being tested through the Bitcoin testnet token.

The code changes required are not very complex

Near the end of his speech, Greg Maxwell received questions from some people about the problems that might arise when integrating full sidechain functionality into the Bitcoin Core software. Maxwell pointed out that to achieve such an upgrade, a soft fork (   soft fork ). He also said:

“The code changes that enable the decentralized peg (non-federated) of the Bitcoin mainnet are in the Element Alpha sidechain. So you can see if it’s a complex idea. It’s actually not that complex, only 50行的代码.”

Because the code is already implemented in the Elements Alpha sidechain, Bitcoin Core developers and contributors can review settings they like or dislike before it is added to the Bitcoin Core software.

Bitcoin scalability debate could delay sidechain BIP release

Maxwell admitted that he had hoped to release the sidechain BIP earlier, but the debate over Bitcoin scalability forced the plan to be delayed for a while, saying:

“There is currently no sidechain BIP implemented. I had hoped to implement one a month ago, but the nitty-gritty of Bitcoin scalability issues made it a lower priority. I hope to implement a BIP in the next few months, and then it will take a while (to gain community consensus).”

In the past, Blockstream President Adam Back has noted that “technical people in general have been quite supportive of the idea of ​​sidechains, which increases flexibility and extensibility for experimentation.” That being said, Back also noted that the timeline for such a proposal to gain community consensus would be difficult to predict.

Delays are expected

Another audience member asked Maxwell about his thoughts on when sidechains might be implemented, to which the Bitcoin Core developer explained:

“This isn’t the first time I’ve had problems, so I expected there to be a lot of delays. Looking at this through rose-colored glasses, I thought ‘Oh yeah, we can do it and be up and running in a month or two,’ I really don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s going to be interesting.”

There are many blockchain-based projects that could potentially be implemented as sidechains, such as RootStock, inspired by Ethereum, and decentralized prediction market Truthcoin, but without the implementation of decentralized bidirectional pegged sidechains, these platforms cannot reach their full potential on the Bitcoin network. Now, blockchain developers can create Bitcoin sidechains in a federated model without the need for the same low-trust guarantee system, such as proof-of-work.

Original article: http://coinjournal.net/greg-maxwell-hopes-to-have-a-sidechains-bip-ready-in-a-few-months/
By Kyle Torpey
Compiled by: Satuoxi
Editor: Satuoxi
Source (translation): Babbitt Information