After much debate and discussion on the Digitalcoin forums and IRC channel, it was decided that the best course of action to secure Digitalcoin’s future was to greatly alter the fundamentals of Digitalcoin. This will almost be a total redesign of the coin. With lower block rewards, longer block times and faster difficulty retargets, this update directly targets the current high inflation rate. To put it simple, with the rise of pools like Multipool, Middlecoin and Hashcows, Digitalcoin had become a very volatile currency. Due to the massive unloading of coins and the masses of profit seekers dumping everything they mine to convert directly to Bitcoin, loyal Digitalcoiners where presented with a constant falling value of the coin for their efforts.

Combined with the difficulty fix update coming shortly that will limit the difficulty fluctuations to a maximum 100% increase or 50% drop, the Digitalcoin economy should flourish. There will be less of a desire for profit seeking pools to mine the coin and decimate it’s economy and more reason for the casual miner to hold on to their Digitalcoins. With less supply, comes less coins being dumped and a more sustainable value.

The update should be released shortly, but will not be released for at least a week after the difficulty fix takes affect (approx 3500 blocks from now).

Here is the post detailing the changes by the coin developer, Baritus:

Intended Changes

Block rewards: Block rewards will be dropping from 20 to 15 per block. The per block value is too high and the removal of the downward pressure will help DGC longterm. Block times: Over 50% of current DGC blocks contain no transactions and therefore are unnecessary. Block times have gone from 20 seconds to 40 seconds. This will help combat the inflation while at the same time increasing efficiency by lowering orphans. The additional 20 seconds don’t make much of a difference as one confirmation in 40 seconds is just as secure as 2 confirmations in 40 seconds. Blocks to retarget: Blocks to retarget will be lowered from 1080 to 108. The upcoming difficulty padding should limit any extreme variance from severely affecting the difficulty. This also makes DGC more robust and more resistant to profit hopping. These changes should stop the downwards trajectory and allow DGC to appreciate in value with its services and community. Thank you,

Baritus

Below are some links to participate in the Digitalcoin community:

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DigitalCoinDGC

Digitalcoin Forums: http://digitalcoin.co/forums/

For more information about the proposed updates visit the following links:

Official Update discussion: http://digitalcoin.co/forums/index.php/topic,178.0/

CryptoNerd articles discussing the update: