The Heartbeat upgrade went live on eCash's mainnet almost a month ago, and the early data is very promising. This update, which introduces the Real-Time Target (RTT) algorithm, has already begun addressing long-standing challenges in block time consistency, improving both network speed and reliability.

Initial Analysis: Comparing Block Intervals

Data from October 10th to December 2nd, 2024, provides a detailed comparison of block time stability across Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and eCash XEC (both pre and post-upgrade). Here’s what the numbers reveal:

Mean Block Times:

• BTC: 580.77 seconds
• BCH: 595.66 seconds
• XEC (pre-upgrade): 596.82 seconds
• XEC (post-upgrade): 602.64 seconds

Standard Deviation:

• BTC: 583.54 seconds
• BCH: 695.16 seconds
• XEC (pre-upgrade): 919.01 seconds
• XEC (post-upgrade): 665.34 seconds

Standard deviation measures how spread out the block times are compared to the average block time (mean).

Blocks Delayed (>1 hour):

• BTC: 0.25%
• BCH: 0.74%
• XEC (pre-upgrade): 1.61%
• XEC (post-upgrade): 0.73%

Key Insights:

• Stabilized Block Times: Post-upgrade, eCash's average block time now aligns closely with BTC and BCH, reflecting greater stability.
• Reduced Volatility: The standard deviation has significantly improved, dropping from 919.01 seconds pre-upgrade to 665.34 seconds post-upgrade, indicating smoother block intervals.
• Fewer Delays: The percentage of blocks taking over an hour to confirm has fallen from 1.61% to 0.73%, now comparable to BCH.

Improvements Since November 15th (Upgrade Day)

While the transition phase showed some variability, recent data highlights steady and ongoing improvements:

Entire Range (November 15th - December 10th):

• Standard Deviation: 626.4 seconds
• Delayed Blocks (>1 hour): 0.57%

Recent data (November 28 - December 10th):

• Standard Deviation: 532.18 seconds
• Delayed Blocks (>1 hour): 0.11%

Key Takeaways:

• Standard Deviation Trend: The standard deviation for eCash blocks is still improving daily and is expected to stabilize slightly below 600 seconds, potentially matching BTC's consistency.

• Significant Reduction in Delays: Recent data shows that only 0.11% of blocks exceeded the one-hour delay threshold, far surpassing BCH and BTC.

Conclusion

The Heartbeat upgrade is already proving its value by reducing block time instability and ensuring a more predictable user experience. As the data continues to accumulate, we’ll get an even better understanding of how Heartbeat enhances reliability and transaction speed. The heartbeat upgrade further enhances the 1-block transaction finality powered by Avalanche Post-Consensus, with more improvements to come from Avalanche Pre-Consensus (0-confirmations and instant transaction finality).

Stay tuned for more updates!