The bitcoin community’s “community” problem went from terrible to shit this morning as bitmain announced that if there is an attempt at a user activated soft fork on the network come August, they have all intentions of hard forking the network and splitting it in two. Not only did this send the price free falling, but it has forced people and companies who have stayed semi neutral in this debate to pick sides. By threatening a hard fork and making open plans to hard fork the network, bitmain is only dividing the community further.
I personally have lost all hope for some sort of compromise and think that now both sides are being unreasonable. You cant reason with unreasonable people and neither side will budge on their demands. Bitmain wants to keep their mining advantage via asicboost and core wont settle for anything less than what they have planned. One thing however is sure, if nothing is done to help lower transaction fees and clear up the mempool, bitcoin will not be the network that both sides want it to be.
I wholeheartedly believe that no one is trying to sabotage the entire project, they just have two completely different views of what bitcoin should be and how to get there. Maybe we are better off in the long run if bitcoin splits into two. The community is so fractured at this point that many of the old timers have left the space completely. Those who remain are sticking vehemently to one side and not budging. In the shot term though a hard fork would most likely send the network into panic and companies into disarray.
If bitmain chooses to hard fork the code, the real test will be if the companies in the bitcoin space will support them. Companies that provide infrastructure like coinbase or bitpay will probably choose a specific side and ideology over the other. Some companies will refuse to support the new hard forked coin out of principal and no matter what the support, wont accept it. Others will probably accept both because they will see financial value in it, but many industry leaders are terrified of two bitcoins.
Two bitcoins will not only confuse newcomers in the space, but also split the money that goes into bitcoin. However we are already seeing this with the current high market share of altcoins, so maybe nothing will change at all. I am curious at this point if an actual hard fork is less dangerous than keeping the status quo in bitcoin. Even if core managed to get segwit through today, there would still be fights over other scaling plans in the future. Maybe it is time both sides went their separate ways and follow the ideology which best suits them.
No matter what happens, user activated soft fork, or hard fork, we have a very unsure future ahead of us and one can only hope it works out for the best. Hope is all we have at the moment because expectations have proven to let me down. What do you think about the potential hard fork? What side would you support?
You couldn't be more wrong. The Bitmain announcement is GREAT NEWS!!! Bitcoin can now scale on-chain the way it was always envisioned - with larger blocks.
Many of you are new to crypto and bitcoin. I'm not. I was trading bitcoin in 2011. Bitcoin's core development has been bought out by corporate interests and they are trying to choke the amount of transactions by limiting the size of blocks. (Blocks are basically just groups of transactions and the system is set up to create one approx. every ten minutes. By constraining them to 1MB in the code, they have limited the amount of transactions the system can handle so many transactions end up stuck in limbo - very bad). So why are they doing that? Because they have patents for their own payment system they want to build on top of the current bitcoin network. By choking the main chain to only 1MB, they force people off unless they pay the highest fees to get added into a block. The goal is to make it a settlement network for the payment system they have patents on. Rick Falkvinge, another early adopter, has a great article about this: https://falkvinge.net/2017/05/01/blockstream-patents-segwit-makes-pieces-fall-place/.
There is absolutely no reason for SegWit, and it is an even bigger mess of code for what is already messy code. Why then?? Because the bankers trying to take over bitcoin can use it to shoehorn in their second layer system that they have patents on. The company that was created to hijack bitcoin for the bankers is called Blockstream. They were funded by too-big-to-fail corp giant AXA, whose former CEO also happens to also be Chairman of Bilderberg. Gee, wonder how a bunch of people who want to enslave humanity with a one world fiat currency feel about a p2p digital cash system that makes banks irrelevant? But this poster thinks THEIR PLAN is the one that is best for bitcoin???
Can you elaborate a bit more, excuse the pun. I thought Segwit, the Bip148 user activated soft fork was a good thing...? But so is the Bitmain hard fork as you say.
seems niether wants the corporate bankers to control the coin ...so hard vs. soft fork, unless the user activated soft fork are the bankers. so i will look into this more...
thx for the perspective on the fork disussions
The good news and Im not sure if its been mentioned is that Bitcoin will be scaled no matter what happens and that is a good thing at the end of the day.
Thank you for this detailed post I am resteeming and following thanks for the info.
I think bitcoin has grown large enough that it can handle a split. Currently it holds close to a monopoly on coins. Just in naming of bitcoin vs altcoin. I think the split could drive serious competition and help develop the platform further.
do you really think that a split would really result in two competing coins? Bitmain has what is essentially a premine for their hard fork...
That is not what pre-mine means. Pre-mined is when someone creates a coin and then mines a significant portion of them before anyone else even knows about it. Bitcoin isn't a new coin.
im talking about how they hedge against their own coin
They're hedging against a UASF attack from BitFury and BTCC. If you don't know who BitFury is, this may help.
yes, click on the link, then make sure you GO BACK to this page. if you are wondering and are not going to click on the link, Bitfury is funded by Clintons, Soros, IMF and so it boils down to corporate one coin idea vs Bitmain and all the current miners and their equipment ??
DON'T WORRY BITCOIN IS KING
SPLIT MAKES MORE VOLATILITY
Better they hardfork and solve it once and for all
I will keep believing in bitcoin , no fear here
For someone kind of new to bitcoin, this is a very scary proposition. Don't know if I should be more worried than I am. I am definitely not selling any bitcoin though and have my hard wallet on deck. So I'll just ride out the storm and hope for the best.
Don't worry. Bitmain news is awesome news. UASF fork is going to be spectacular failure for bankers trying to ruin Bitcoin. Just make sure you upgrade to a wallet that accepts bigger blocks if you run a full node.
What are some examples of bigger wallets, that could run a node? sorry for the newb question, I appreciate the the info you've put down in these comments. Thanks
Run either Bitcoin Unlimited, Classic, or XT. They all support big blocks. You can also probably google how to patch Core to accept big blocks.
New to the whole thing so I don't have any knowledgeable input to offer, other than I guess this will entail a lot more study on my behalf and see where it goes from there. Just seems like "investment" choices are becoming much more fractured. Fortunately buying silver is still a "backup the truck" buy!
Thanks for the update for those of us trying to read the tea leaves.
Thanks for this info! As a newbie I think a hard fork might be better for the long run, if they can't work together. It's a shame, but it's also normal that people disagree on things.
how do you see a hard fork as "better for the long run"?
Because we need to have bigger blocks.
I am expecting a violent price dip in bitcoin at some point upcoming, but how long it lasts is anyone's guess. My guess is some of the capital may shelter in certain other alt coins, but coins that are already in a speculative mania may drop hard.
I'm confident bitcoin will make it through whatever results and remain an important part of the ecosystem. It still remains the main vector for value in and out of the sphere, so will retain use like a carry trade.
a large drop like today?
my thoughts exactly, would it be too pressing to ask what your opinion on what those "certain other Alt coins" are?
Sure, I think some people like LTC is less volatile and will go there. I know I'd keep some in Steem (power). I bet some would go into Eth, although not a great place imo at current price. I've seen increasing hype for Sia and Ripple/Monero outside crypto-spaces, but I'm not sure if the latter two are good. I think Ripple is probably gonna drop too.
Ok, so I don't know anything about this whole kerfuffle but would I be right in saying that this is kind of like Brexit for Bitcoin?
eh, not really. This is more like the bankers trying to take over bitcoin and the early anarchist/libertarian adopters of bitcoin each getting a separate fork of bitcoin.
Well, as I said I know nothing of this whole debacle just thought I'd make a silly joke about another splitting up of a community.
WOW is all I can say, I am usually so with it on the crypto news but today been so bad with a migraine from so much monitor viewing that I took it easy from the internet lol. I had no clue Bitmain is going this route of aggressive plays to call shots on a forced hard fork. When I just started to have hope to believe there could be a resolution, in comes the miner camp with more dictatorship. And I am a miner here, I own me a few Bitmain miners but lord have mercy am I eyeing these energy hogs a little pissy at them for their creator lol.
Thank you for this well put together value and wealth of important info I usually don't miss but did today. You saved my day in this knowledge. I am starting to lose faith in Bitcoin holding the top position. I think a lot of us are really sick of the drama. Hard fork it, kick it around, snub the users with high fees. I came here to get away from the central banks but I think I got sucked right back into another one....frustrating
Don't worry, the hard fork is a good thing. Its just for bigger blocks which was the plan for bitcoin from the very beginning. It's literally one line of code being changed.
Yea I do agree on that side, the 2mb deal is not the end of the world lol. I think its just burning all of us out with the soap opera getting there, the back and forth of who wants to do what. I am in it here through Bitcoin in way that is what I came into this a long time ago. But if you told me a year ago this up and down back and forth madness would happen, I would have gotten ulcer meds ahead of time lol. I will say this, BTC sure does take a licking and keeps kicking right back lol...the coin itself and the value in it is a force beyond even the electricity needed to keep it alive. Just added you, mainly for the voice of reason in your comment, think all this drama has everyone so edgy lately lol
Its bigger than you think. This is the beginning of the climax of Bitcoin taking over the elite's monetary control.
I hope so, please let that happen because the idea of ETH coming up with JP Morgan on their backs is killing me lately. I am a movement financial anarchist here and to turn this into another form of central banking freaks me out lol. We are so close to winning the goals of taking back our world here, so I pray every day that we don't lose our ground
Whats so funny is I wrote this today with Bitcoin in mind about fixing the system lol.
https://steemit.com/blockchain/@sflaherty/a-crypto-odyssey-white-paper-for-a-blockchain-government-built-on-transparency-and-freedom-a-crypto-odyssey-3
С человеческой жадностью и желанием власти бороться трудно..)
Had to translate, so hoping this is correct lol "With human greed and the desire for power to fight hard" if that is what you said I completely agree. Human greed is truly getting in the way here. Hopefully a good resolution is coming because I think this situation is causing the issues of value again in crypto. Followed you
I honestly have no idea what any of this means but it doesn't sound good
It's actually awesome for bitcoin, and more importantly, for freedom.
It is an Amazing time we all live in.
I didn't expect this, it certainly changes my perspective on Bitmain.
It should for the better. They said all the right things.
Great article! Consider adding definitions of soft/hard fork for newcomers.
I am on the soft fork side. We don't need a hard fork creating uncertainty at this time. It will stifle growth and potential turn bitcoin in to a long term bear market again. I will follow you
The UASF isn't even really a soft fork, since clients that don't use it won't be able to validate the new transactions. The hard fork is just to increase the block size which was the plan from the very beginning and what the whole 2 year old dispute has been about: The powers that be/establishment/illuminati/NWO/Whateveryouwannacallthem have been trying to restrict the blocksize for two years to choke the amount of transactions and make the chain only available to people paying high fees so they can force everyone onto a layer 2 solution of their creation that they patented - basically ruining bitcoin.
The HF will prevent all that nonsense. Now we'll be able to have thousands more transactions per block which will drop fees back to pennies instead of dollars.
If you are looking to invest in Bitcoin, it will be smart to wait until August.
I'm unclear as to the alternative to splitting the coin and what that will bring about. Somebody should boil this down to Wikipedia Plain English style explanation for newcomers. Am I right to understand that some are suggesting to let nature take it's course (as it were) despite the system being clogged? Also as a newbie I'd like to know 1) did the conceivers not see this coming and 2) what does this say about the viability of cryptocurrency itself?
There is no reason for the system to be clogged. The original vision was to scale up the size of the blocks as Bitcoin grew, with the assumption that storage, RAM, and bandwidth would increase according to Moore's Law to accommodate the scaling. Bankster-led Blockstream has halted the growth of Bitcoin by buying out and taking over the Core development team and enforcing the limit in the code to choke off the number of transactions. This is making regular p2p transactions impossible (who is going to pay a $2 fee to send $2?).
Now that Bitmain is going to start mining bigger blocks, we're going to see giant growth, as the price grows in parallel with the number of transactions. Bigger blocks = more transactions = higher price ($10,000 probably by Dec '17)
I appreciate your insight
Thank you, as I try to understand the sortfork - hardfork difference
I think August 1st is gonna be a bad day for Bitcoin...too much uncertainty. I may move most of money into Alt coins, cash out some profits, and hold a small amount of Bitcoin until the dust settles.
So glad I use "thirds rule strategy"
fuck bitmain
They're doing the right thing. They're doing what they HAVE to do to prevent their expensive mining equipment from turning into paperweights.
Dam, this is messy.
Actually, Bitmain is making it less messy.
I see it as being a China Bitcoin and a American Bitcoin, following for example the split of ethereum. Perhaps they could share regional activity under one valuation or they could divide and people would choose sides, the one with the most devs probably will be favored similar to ethereum. It already does not have enough nodes so decentralized is no longer one of its features. It will no longer be for micro payments(cost me 9 usd yesterday to send 20 usd) but for high value transfers 10K+ it is still the best portal coin for entry to the digital economy because it has the infrastructure required. Overall it will be fine if they hard fork, no one knew what would happen to ethereum also and they are cruzin along just fine today. I think most of the anxiety is around it being a first for BTC as it was programmed to never split or be taken over, so at least we will learn something from the experience regardless of what happens. Thanks for sharing, Steem ON!
relevant links:
https://archive.fo/nSVMo
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
that is why the currency is losing value -- tough decision on whether this presents a buying opportunity considering the splits occuring. what is the best way to go?
Thank you for this detailed post.following you!!!!
please support #faithinhumanity
Your upvote resteem will be appreciated-https://steemit.com/landmine/@tinashe/when-life-becomes-living-hell-for-landmine-victim
Just get on with it already! Im frustrated that my alts which have governance protocols are hit price wise because Bitcoin cant make a decision.
Though to be fair to Bitcoin, its obvious a lot of traders dont really know what they are buying/selling, the money should be flowing from BTC to alts based on this news, but it isnt....
are people really surprised by bitmain and mr. Wu?
All I see is a few company against one company and that can’t be good. Seeing that Bitmain is the odd one out I would say Bitmain is being a little bit too greedy. The needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few and Bitmain isn’t even few its 1 single entity.
When I look at how they conduct their business and how the run their sales strategy on ASIC machine sales,quite seriously it is disgusting. Let’s get started, why is Bitmain mining empty blocks in the first place? It is creating congestion for the bitcoin network and high transaction fees. Then they came out with Bitcoin Cash which supposingly faster and cheaper then Bitcoin. So basically it like ”they are creating a virus just so they can sell their antidote”. And whats with Antbleed backdoor program on their asic miner firmware. They Bitmain had exploited many coins project for their own gains and to protect their own interest.
At the end of the day it just another Chinaman company with poor, immorale business ethics. I hate to say it because I am a Chinese myself, and the fact that I am condeming my own race hurts me just as much. But that is the facts at the moment.
Just Jihan trying to pick up BTC on the cheap again. Sneakiest little f**k on the planet.