Transitory soft forks
Transitory soft forks are soft forks that automatically revert after a period of time if Bitcoin users don’t extend them or make them permanent.
The response to the BIP50 consensus failure included a transitory soft fork that briefly limited the maximum block size. The idea of doing something similar for adding features was proposed as a compromise between advocates of OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY and those who either doubted its utility or preferred to wait for a better alternative. Since then, the idea has also been proposed to derisk consensus changes designed to fix bugs and improve security.
Primary code and documentation
Optech newsletter and website mentions
2025
- Transitory soft forks for cleanup soft forks
- Transitory soft fork for disabling EC operations due to perceived quantum computer risks
2022
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