Unbreaking testnet4

The discussion among Bitcoin developers centers around the current exploitation of a rule within the testnet4 environment, specifically the 20-minute difficulty exception. This rule was originally designed to facilitate developers in mining coins for themselves and confirming their non-standard transactions with ease. However, it has become apparent that this feature is being perpetually exploited, which undermines its intended purpose.

In response to this issue, Antoine Poinsot proposed a solution to eliminate the problematic rule through the implementation of a flag day hard fork. The suggested date for this action is January 1, 2026. This proposal aims at addressing the exploitation by removing the difficulty reset rule from testnet4. While agreeing with the necessity of the proposed solution, Murch recommended choosing a date that does not coincide with major holidays to minimize disruption. The consensus leans towards executing the hard fork on a non-holiday, suggesting that the original proposal's date, despite being on New Year's Day, might need reconsideration to accommodate developers' schedules better and avoid any unintended inconveniences.