A controversial miners’ tax still causes rifts among adherents of the coin, although it is roundly rejected by a vocal majority of the Bitcoin Cash community.

An enforced 12.5 percent tax on BCH miners was suggested by a conglomerate of Bitcoin Cash mining companies in January as a way to finance community development. After weeks of debate, the tax plan’s main signatories (including a majority of Bitcoin Cash mining power) reversed their decision, dropping the Infrastructure Funding Plan, or IFP.

Just a month away from the next technical update to Bitcoin Cash, the IFP protocol remains embedded in the ABC code for Bitcoin. This triggered another round of debate within the ranks of BCH, with many considering the wisdom of leaving an apparently unnecessary vector of attack in place.

Its presence in the code leaves open the possibility of a malicious miner deciding to activate the protocol, with a majority of BCH users opposed to the IFP. If enough hashpower was pledged to activate the funding plan, the wishes of the Bitcoin Cash community would be effectively vetoed.

Why the IFP Code was Still in Place?

One commenter on the Bitcoin Cash subreddit asked to know why the IFP code was still in place, and what it meant for the future development of Bitcoin Cash:

“Does the IFP remain in the code until the next hard fork? (and then removed in the next hardfork). Does the IFP remain in the code in perpetuity? (Horrifying). Does the IFP remain in the code and able to be activated at any point by an influx of miners from core btc? (Also scary).”

Another asked the Bitcoin ABC team (the development group that drives much of Bitcoin Cash development) for clear answers, asking:

“Why can’t Bitcoin ABC simply give a clear answer as to why they have decided to leave in the IFP code that they claim to no longer support? I find this comment thread rather disturbing.”

Bitcoin ABC recently launched a voluntary donation drive to raise BCH 14,500, or USD $3.3 million, to help “realize the vision of censorship-resistant P2P electronic cash for the world.” Currently, 43 percent of that target has been raised, with the donation drive set to last until April 30.

That’s just two weeks prior to the scheduled May 15 BCH update. This left some wondering whether the IFP has remained in place as the financing goals of a failsafe Bitcoin ABC incase are not met by the end of the month.

Indeed, the Bitcoin ABC business plan for the year ahead clearly states why the Infrastructure Funding Plan code remains in place:

“If all else fails, miners may be incentivized to implement an infrastructure funding plan that involves a mandatory percentage-based contribution of the Bitcoin Cash block reward to Bitcoin Cash development teams.”

Jonald Fyookball, developer of the Electron Cash wallet, expressed his disappointment with the above reasoning, noting:

“Well, at least it is some kind of response. Not a very satisfying one though, and it doesn’t change the reckless/hostile behavior of actually leaving it in. Reading between the lines, it looks like ABC is using IFP as a bargaining chip.”

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