Steemit Hard Fork Imminent, Users Urged to Vote

Steemit, the popular blockchain-based content platform, will be undergoing its Velocity hard fork in just over a week. Yesterday, the team published a tweet and article that announced the blockchain’s imminent hard fork.

The Steemit blockchain team has officially published our release for Hardfork 20, codenamed “Velocity.” This release includes code that specifies that the Hardfork will occur on September 25th. Read more: https://t.co/nwthXX0yXf #steem #steemit #blockchain #cryptocurrency #crypto

— Steem (@SteemNetwork) September 14, 2018

As Steemit explains, hard forks make changes to a platform’s consensus rules. Different versions of the Steemit software produce different blocks, and witnesses vote for the new block scheme by using the new version of the software. After a sufficient number of witnesses install the new software and are in agreement, the next block that is produced will activate the hard fork.

However, executing a hard fork requires coordination, and Steemit is calling on various members of the Steem community to participate. Witnesses are reviewing changes in the hard fork’s code and will be updating to the new version of Steem over the next several days. Exchanges will also be moving to the new release.

Users Should Vote

This is not just a matter for block witnesses. The announcement urges users to vote for witnesses who are accepting the hard fork. The hard fork will almost certainly be adopted, but voting is nevertheless important, as doing so lets the developers know that they are acting in the interests of the community:

“The hardfork vote of the top 20 witnesses determines whether the hardfork‒and the improvements included within it‒becomes active or not. Once a hardfork becomes active it cannot be undone except via another hardfork. This process is an incredibly important part of participating on the Steem Blockchain. In many ways, this process is how we ratify amendments to the Steem Constitution.”

In theory, users could collectively vote for witnesses that are rejecting the hard fork, but this is unlikely to happen. Apart from a few misgivings, the support for the hard fork is overwhelming. If you are a Steem user, you can cast your vote at the official Steemit site.

Suggested Reading : Learn more about blockchain technology in our beginner’s guide.

New Features in Velocity

The Velocity hard fork will bring many new features to users, including a revised credit system, new account features, and reduced curation windows. Additionally, changes to self-voting policies will prevent bad actors from gaming the reward system. Steemit’s recently announced smart media tokens will not be part of this update.

These are just the features that affect users: other features will be beneficial to block witnesses and will improve blockchain security. If everything goes as planned, Velocity will go live on Tuesday, September 25, 2018 15:00:00 UTC.