Bitcoin users can now enable or disable transaction substitution on their nodes.
The new version of Bitcoin Core introduces a parameter that allows network nodes to change their policies regarding replaceable transactions.
Bitcoin Core is the most widely used software to run the Bitcoin protocol, and in its version 24, it introduces the possibility that all transactions that send Bitcoin (BTC) can be replaced.
“Today version 24.0 of #Bitcoin Core was released, I recommend reading the notes that talk about mempoolfullrbf well to understand it and make a decision about how you want to configure your node once updated,” tweeted user @decentralized_b, Co-Founder y Co-organizer of @Wo_Bitcoin.
The “mempoolfullrbf” parameter refers to Full-RBF (Replace By Fee), a function that allows you to take an unconfirmed Bitcoin (BTC) transaction and try to spend it again with a better commission.
Some Businesses Work with Unconfirmed BTC Transactions
In previous versions of Bitcoin Core, nodes indiscriminately included replaceable or non-replaceable transactions, leaving the choice to make them replaceable or not in the hands of the sending user.
Based on this vote of confidence, many businesses accept transactions without their being confirmed, for the benefit of faster buying and selling of products or services, and in general, for the benefit of the user or customer experience.
For example, services like Bitrefill process your sales from unconfirmed transactions that signal their non-replaceability.
Also, the Chivo ATMs in El Salvador allow cash withdrawals more quickly if the user sends a non-replaceable transaction, along with a commission high enough to estimate that it will be confirmed in the next block.
In the case of Chivo ATMs, if the user sends a transaction with RBF activated, the ATM issues a voucher for the user to claim their money later when the transaction receives the first confirmation. This logic is based on trust, which has quite a few critics.
Bitcoin Security Should Not Rely on Trust
Now developers like Peter Todd, who have pushed these changes in Bitcoin Core v24, argue that if all nodes support replaceable transactions, those who want to perpetrate an attack will have to pay very high fees to do so, removing the incentive to do so.
In this way, they place the security of Bitcoin not on trust, but on the incentive game among its participants, they claim.
Opponents of this have said that in every commercial transaction there is a percentage of trust and that many businesses see the utility in transactions with 0 confirmations to operate.
The debate has had many arguments for and against, but it has only lasted a month, so many bitcoiners in the community have been caught off guard.
By Audy Castaneda
