Bitcoin Cash, a spin-off of the Bitcoin blockchain, is scheduled to undergo a major upgrade on May 15.
As reported by Wu Blockchain, the upgrade mainly adds the CashTokens issuance token mechanism, similar to ERC20. The Bitcoin Cash network upgrade scheduled for May 15 will enable smart contracts "comparable to Ethereum" but noticeably more effective, according to BCH developer Jason Dreyzehner.
As stated in a Network Upgrade Specification document, the following changes to the Bitcoin Cash network would activate in the May 15 upgrade: CHIP-2021-01 Restrict Transaction Version, CHIP-2021-01 Minimum Transaction Size, CHIP-2022-02 CashTokens and CHIP-2022-05 P2SH32.
CashTokens CHIP is viewed as a boon to economic freedom by its supporters. The upgrade will enable "advanced on-chain applications like higher-security vaults, decentralized exchanges and bridged sidechains," which are similar to Ethereum, more scalable and less expensive. This is in addition to UTXO-level token creation.
The upgrade also adds P2SH32, which expands the P2SH address from 20 to 32 for better security.
In January, the Bitcoin Cash Node (BCHN) project announced its major release, version 26.0.0. This release of Bitcoin Cash Node (BCHN) was marked as a major release, not due to consensus changes but because it changed an interface for security reasons.
The old BCHN v24.x.0 software will expire on the date of the upgrade, May 15, so BCHN users are urged to consider an update to the most recent node version before this date.
Binance to support Bitcoin Cash upgrade
Top crypto exchange Binance and its U.S. subsidiary Binance U.S. have announced support for the Bitcoin Cash upgrade.
The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network upgrade is expected to take place on May 15 (12 p.m. UTC). According to the exchange, deposits and withdrawals of BCH will be suspended temporarily at around 11:30 a.m. UTC on May 15. The trading of BCH will not be affected during the network upgrade.