What is #MultiShield?

Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment

MultiShield adjusts the mining difficulty for each of DigiByte’s five algorithms independently after every block (approximately every 15 seconds). This ensures that block timings remain consistent, targeting an average of 15 seconds per block.

Protection Against Mining Fluctuations

It prevents network instability caused by sudden surges or drops in mining power, such as when large mining pools (multi-pools) join or leave the network. By recalculating difficulty in real-time, MultiShield avoids scenarios where the blockchain could “freeze” due to excessively high difficulty after miners exit.

Support for MultiAlgo

Activated via a hard fork in December 2014 (block 400,000), MultiShield extends DigiShield’s protections to all five mining algorithms. Each algorithm accounts for roughly 20% of block production, ensuring no single algorithm dominates and enhancing decentralization.

Enhanced Security

By balancing difficulty across multiple algorithms, MultiShield makes it harder for malicious actors to attack the network. Even if an attacker controls significant hash power in one algorithm, they can only mine a maximum of 20% of blocks, reducing the risk of a 51% attack.

Industry Impact

MultiShield is an evolution of DigiShield, which was pioneered by #DigiByte in February 2014 and adopted by over two dozen blockchains, including Dogecoin, Zcash, and Bitcoin Cash. MultiShield’s multi-algorithm approach is unique to $DGB, further distinguishing it.