Speedy Trial
The 2021 version-bits variant used to activate Taproot: a short miner-signalling window at 90% with a delayed minimum activation height.
The wiki's angle: after the 2017 war, Core chose an activation method that gave miners a short, high-threshold vote and nothing more, while a separate LOT=true client stayed compatible with it.[2][5]
Contents
Mechanism
Bitcoin Core PR #21377, “Speedy trial support for versionbits”, was opened by ajtowns on 6 March 2021 and merged on 15 April 2021[1]. The Takeover forks overview describes Speedy Trial as a BIP-9 variant described in BIP-341 with a short signalling window of about three months, a 90% threshold of 1,815 of 2,016 blocks, and a min_activation_height that delays enforcement[2]. Bitcoin Core 0.21.1 shipped the Taproot deployment parameters[3].
Reception
The overview records that Taproot “Locked in within seven weeks”[2]. On S15 E50 Vlad described a developer who “got some backlash from the community because he went for activation via speedy trial”[4].
References
- primaryBitcoin Core PR #21377, “Speedy trial support for versionbits” (ajtowns; opened 6 Mar 2021, merged 15 Apr 2021) [archived]
- btkBitcoin: All the Hard Forks and Soft Forks (BTCTKVR: Forks!) [archived]
- primaryBitcoin Core 0.21.1 release notes (Taproot activation parameters) [archived]
- episodeS15 E50: Vlad on the Speedy Trial backlash▶ listen at 38:53timestamp transcript-derived, pending a listen [archived]
- primaryBIP-341 (Taproot: SegWit version 1 spending rules), Wuille, Nick, Towns [archived]