Navigating the 2021 Sia hardfork
The Sia network has implemented a hardfork to implement the Sia Foundation: a new non-profit entity that builds and supports distributed cloud storage infrastructure, with a specific focus on the Sia storage platform.
The hardfork occured around 4 pm ET on February 3rd. Track the fork with this great tool from SiaStats!
The hardfork requires v1.5.4 of Sia. It is necessary to spend coins, receive coins, rent, or host after the fork. Every user, exchange, mining pool, wallet, and integration should upgrade as soon as possible.
This guide is strictly practical. If you'd like to learn more about the Foundation's proposal and the discussion that led to its acceptance, check these links.
You can reference our Sia API docs for technical documentation on Sia and updating via CLI.
Timeline
Sia v1.5.4 has been released. The fork will be implemented at a block height of 298,000, which occurred on February 3rd at around 4 pm ET, 1 pm PT.
Download 1.5.4 from our site (best for most users)
Download 1.5.4 from Gitlab (if you prefer to build it yourself)
For renters and hosts
Renters and hosts need to upgrade to v1.5.4 by February 3rd.
Doing so ensures that renters will continue to upload data to hosts also on the new fork. Hosts who fail to upgrade in time will no longer form contracts with renters who upgrade. Long story short, you need to be on the same version as everyone else or you aren't part of the same network.
For miners
Nothing will change. You can check in with your mining pool to make sure they've updated, but we've received confirmation from the following major pools that they will update: Luxor, SiaMining, f2pool, Dxpool.
For exchanges
Exchanges should upgrade to v1.5.4 by February 1st at the latest. Due to the volume of users you serve, you should leave time for a proper upgrade. Once you do, your exchange will be able to support the fork once it takes effect.
Transactions created before the fork block but not confirmed yet will not be valid anymore after the fork block. We recommend that you pause withdrawals and don't send any transactions for the 6 hours leading up to the fork, and the 2 hours following the fork. This will prevent you from having your transactions become invalid.
Reference our Sia API docs if necessary. Updating your Sia wallet can be as simple as running siac update, or using the following API command, but only you know your Sia wallet setup.
For Siacoin holders
First, one important thing. You'll have the exact same amount of Siacoins after the fork.
For users that store in our official wallet
Siacoin holders should upgrade to v1.5.4 by February 3rd. There are two versions of Sia: Sia-UI for most users, and siac for advanced users. When the hardfork hits at block 298,000, your updated 1.5.4 version of Sia will instantly give you access to the new chain, and all of your Siacoins will be available to you.
If you don't upgrade in time, you will brick your consensus.db file. This is the file that syncs the blockchain to your computer, and you will have to completely re-sync it. You never lose your coins. Once you update to the new chain, your coins will be available to you again.
Learn how to download and install Sia-UI
Learn how to create a new wallet in Sia-UI
Download siac from our site (for advanced users)
For users that store Siacoins on an exchange
You don't have to do anything. When an exchange updates their wallet, you'll now have the same amount of coins on the new Sia chain. These coins are usable to trade with exchanges once they have upgraded and to buy storage from hosts who also use the new chain.
Exchange Support
Here's a list of all the exchanges that have had Siacoin volume over the past couple of months, according to CoinMarketCap. Please keep in mind that while we've confirmed with these exchanges that they are supporting the 1.5.4 Sia fork, final implementation is up to their teams. You should reach out to your exchanges to confirm.
The second column will have three values:
Informed, meaning we have passed the fork information along to the exchange
Confirmed, meaning the exchange has agreed to update
Complete, meaning the exchange has already updated
For Ledger Nano S users
You'll need to update your app, but you should do it after the hardfork activates. Updating before the fork will your signatures won't be valid. Use Ledger Live in Developer mode to find and update the Siacoin app.
For SiaStream users
SiaStream has been updated to support 1.5.4. If you run SiaStream, simply update to the latest version and you're all set once the fork hits.
More questions?
Let us know! Send us an email, or reach out to the community on Discord.
Last updated