Bitcoin block size will be expanded to 20M, which will lead to an increase in mining costs

On June 9, the number of Bitcoin network transmissions has increased significantly, which has caused transmission congestion in the Bitcoin network to a certain extent. To solve this problem, Bitcoin core developer Gavin Andresen proposed to expand the block size to a maximum of 20M. Currently, there is a great deal of controversy in the global Bitcoin industry. Chinese mining pools produce about 43% of the world's blocks. Huobi, a Chinese Bitcoin trading platform, believes that the operation and development of Bitcoin needs to take into account China's opinions.

Some international discussants support Gavin Andresen's view, but this will inevitably cause some damage to Chinese mining farms. In community discussions, some radical foreign discussants believe that there is no need to consider China's broadband situation. If Chinese miners cannot complete mining tasks, the Bitcoin business can continue without Chinese people. However, in the current actual situation, almost half of the Bitcoin production links are distributed in China, so China has an important say in matters related to Bitcoin infrastructure, especially in the field of mining.

Regarding the possible consequences of expanding the blockchain to 20M, Mo Yiyi, CEO of DigCoin, a mining project under the Bitcoin trading platform Huobi, explained: "Block expansion will lead to an increase in mining costs. In order to avoid orphan blocks, bandwidth needs to be increased, and a short-term reduction in transaction fees may trigger opposition from miners and mining pools." Miners will stop mining because their business operations are not profitable, and the loss of miners will lead to a decrease in computing power, thereby increasing the risk of the entire Bitcoin network being attacked.

Mo Yiyi also stated that in the long run, the 1MB block capacity is indeed not enough for the development of the Bitcoin network. However, "the proposal to expand the block capacity cannot solve the fundamental problem, and the 20M block may become a bottleneck in the future. A neutral and balanced solution is necessary. The middle value of this expansion can ensure the smoothness of transactions in the next year. Within this year, we can actively seek a more optimized solution. It is necessary to consider this issue from an economic perspective." "We hope that the Bitcoin network can have continuous technical and functional improvements and become more robust, so that the Bitcoin network system can be more user-friendly, convenient, and powerful."

When asked about the phenomenon that some foreign countries support capacity expansion without considering China's broadband situation, Mr. Mo Yiyi said: "A Bitcoin network that can be continuously improved is the most valuable. In terms of changes to technical details, we do not strongly support increasing the block to 20M or not increasing it at all. After all, a decentralized system serves all users. We do not want to see the reappearance of the discrimination and discrimination against people in the real society in the decentralized Bitcoin network due to differences in skin color, language, nationality, and culture. We hope to have a convincing and robust solution, and this requires listening to a wide range of opinions and voices. Huobi is committed to contributing to and participating in the entire Bitcoin industry, and hopes that more people will make their lives and work more convenient by using Bitcoin. We are willing to contribute our capabilities and resources to all solutions and improvements based on this principle."