Should Full Replace-By-Fee Be Merged Into Bitcoin Core?

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In this occurrence of “Bitcoin, Explained,” hosts Aaron van Wirdum and Sjors Provoost revisit the replace-by-fee (RBF) node policy. As they mentioned successful episode 65, the upcoming Bitcoin Core merchandise — Bitcoin Core 24.0 — includes the enactment to power connected “full RBF,” but this has since caused immoderate commotion successful the Bitcoin community. Van Wirdum and Provoost explicate what this commotion has been astir and item immoderate of the caller arguments for and against afloat RBF.

RBF has been the taxable of an earlier “Bitcoin, Explained” episode, therefore, van Wirdum and Provoost don’t spell into an in-depth mentation connected what RBF is precisely oregon however it works. However, they bash concisely summarize its astir important aspects.

Van Wirdum and Provoost past spell connected to explicate wherefore Bitcoin Core developers primitively decided to see this feature, and they sermon immoderate of the caller arguments for and against afloat RBF. These see the effect of RBF connected “pinning attacks” — a benignant of onslaught that is particularly applicable for the Lightning Network and different Layer 2 protocols — the comparative information of accepting unconfirmed transactions today, privacy-related arguments concerning the “opt-in” emblem that RBF transactions presently use, the detrimental effects of monitoring the web for imaginable treble spends and more.

Van Wirdum and Provoost besides sermon the pros and cons of including RBF arsenic an optional diagnostic and frankincense letting node operators determine for themselves however their node deals with conflicting unconfirmed transactions. Provoost outlines why, successful immoderate cases, giving users much options could person detrimental effects connected the wellness of the Bitcoin network, and considers whether the enactment to see the RBF enactment is specified a case.

Finally, van Wirdum and Provoost concisely sermon an inaugural by full-RBF advocator Peter Todd to incentivize miners to use full-RBF logic to their transaction selection.