Bitcoin SV Scaling Test Network is open for business

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The Bitcoin SV Scaling Test Network (STN) is now open for business. Enterprises and developers who want to test Bitcoin’s scaling limits for their applications and services are invited to use the STN, and contribute to the future of an unbounded Bitcoin blockchain.

The STN is an initiative of Bitcoin Association’s Bitcoin SV Node project, developed by nChain with funding from CoinGeek; transaction traffic is provided by the Satoshi Shotgun (Professional Stress Test) team. This global public network is continuously loaded with transactions to enable BSV developers to test under heavy load. Interested businesses and developers globally can join and use the STN to test Bitcoin applications and systems that require large transaction volumes or large data capacity.

Big scaling is what separates Bitcoin SV (BSV) from other blockchain projects, and why businesses should build applications on BSV. Named for the “Satoshi Vision” of Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto, BSV is the only project following the original Bitcoin protocol and vision – which commits to massive scaling of the blockchain so Bitcoin can become the world’s new money used by billions of people, and the global data ledger for enterprises.

That is why Bitcoin SV is building scaling capacity for not today, but the future. In the last six months the BSV blockchain has already increased its capacity from 20 to 400 transactions per second. The BSV Scaling Test Network has already been tested at significantly higher volumes handling 1200 transactions per second sustained continuously over a 7-day period in March 2019. Last month’s test results for BSV are therefore close to Visa and MasterCard payment network capacity, which handle close to 1,700 transactions per second (15 million transactions per day). By February 2020, BSV is expected to scale to significantly exceed Visa and Mastercard average transaction capacity. Beyond then, its future scaling plans will provide transaction capacity far exceeding anything in existence today by removing any default block size limit on the BSV blockchain. The BSV blockchain can handle more than just payments, but also token, smart contract, Internet of Things and many other types of data transactions for the world’s enterprises.

Steve Shadders, Director of Engineering at nChain and Technical Director of the Bitcoin SV Node project, comments: “In the coming months, we plan to increase the maximum block size of the Scaling Test Network to a massive 10 GB (10,000 megabytes) so that it can grow to tens of thousands of transactions per second without needing further consensus upgrades. We are moving past the era of filling up blocks and stepping into the realm of boundless growth. Our goal is not to push the limits, but to prove there are no limits.”

Using the STN provides many benefits for companies and developers. The network will provide a continuous and varying supply of transaction traffic, so services will be continuously battle-tested. Businesses can learn performance bottlenecks of their applications early and rectify them before those loads are reached in live environments. By using the STN, enterprises can give their clients assurance that they are keeping up with BSV scaling requirements. To that end, Bitcoin Association and the Bitcoin SV Node team plan later this year to create an STN Certification program that will enable a service to claim independent certification of its resilience.

The STN will also have a dedicated support team to assist developers and enterprises with questions. BSV Node developer Brad Kristensen has been appointed to the role of STN Operations Manager. Brad has a long history with Bitcoin, including mining as far back as the GPU era, as well as being a senior developer with nChain, the global leader in advisory, research and development of blockchain technologies.

Jimmy Nguyen, Founding President of Bitcoin Association and Chair of nChain’s Strategic Advisory Board, states: “Big enterprises need a blockchain that can scale to handle their big transaction volume needs. The original Bitcoin, now back in the form of Bitcoin SV, always had that power, and we are now unlocking its massive scaling capability. We encourage businesses around the world to build applications on BSV, and are happy to provide the Scaling Test Network as a resource and safe environment for growing the BSV ecosystem.”

To get involved or learn more about the BSV Scaling Test Network, visit https://bitcoinscaling.io/ or email [email protected]. Join the STN and work on the cutting edge of Bitcoin’s unbounded future.

UPCOMING: COINGEEK TORONTO CONFERENCE – May 29-30, Toronto, Canada

Come meet the Bitcoin SV scaling team in person and hear about the latest massive scaling developments on the BSV blockchain at the CoinGeek Toronto conference May 29-30. It’s easy to register. And pay with the world’s new money and you’ll receive a discount by using BSV via Coingate.

For media enquiries: Ed Pownall at [email protected].