Just when you thought things couldn’t get weirder in the cryptocurrency space, one of the most untrusted characters within the Bitcoin community has announced the launch of a new full node Bitcoin Cash client. The notorious owner of the website Bitcoin.org, Cobra Bitcoin, has revealed what he calls the ‘Cobra Client,’ a Bitcoin Cash full node implementation that aims to be ready before the hard fork scheduled for November 15.
Also Read: A Look at Two More Bitcoin Cash Token Projects in the Works
The Controversial Cobra Bitcoin Discusses Consensus Failure and Chain Splits
We’ve covered a lot of stories involving the infamous and anonymous figure who calls himself Cobra. As stated above it’s safe to say the character is considered untrustworthy by both Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin Core (BTC) supporters. There have been lots of reasons as to why Cobra is considered controversial. Some of the reasons include asking people if Bitcoin.org should alter the original Bitcoin white paper hosted on the site, and he also thinks proof-of-work (PoW) is centralized and wants to change the Bitcoin consensus algorithm. He’s also transformed from a BTC fan who at first disliked BCH, to a very vocal Bitcoin Cash supporter over the past few months. This has caused a lot of distrust towards him from the BTC community as he was asked to relinquish ownership of the Bitcoin.org domain.
Now, this week Cobra is getting involved with the argument between Bitcoin ABC developers and Nchain developers over the next BCH upgrade planned for November. Cobra says that a BCH upgrade is planned every six months and Bitcoin ABC and Nchain/Coingeek’s consensus changes are completely different. Cobra says if the two clients are adopted by two sets of hashing power there very well could be a consensus failure and “split of the coin into two competing chains.”
“Such a consensus failure will be a disaster for all investors and users of Bitcoin Cash, but it is almost impossible to avoid at this point as all the developers and miners involved refuse to back down,” Cobra’s recent Medium blog post details. “Such a scenario will wipe out huge amounts of value from Bitcoin Cash, lead to total ridicule of the currency, and widespread loss of trust and faith.”
Such reputation damage is simply not worth it, all just so some developers and miners can avoid having their egos bruised around some mostly unimportant and non-urgent changes — Even a temporary fork will cause lasting damage.
The Cobra Client
Following these statements, Cobra reveals he is publishing a new full node BCH client called ‘Cobra Client.’ In contrast to Bitcoin Unlimited’s proposition to include both ABC and Nchain’s changes so miners can vote, the Cobra Client plans to have no consensus changes whatsoever. “The hard fork implemented by Cobra Client will make no consensus changes or add any new features as it’s clear there is not enough consensus on issues around the new Opcodes and Canonical Transaction Ordering,” the owner of Bitcoin.org explains.
Instead, Cobra Client will implement replay protection to prevent Bitcoin Cash transactions being replayed across alternative chains. This means users will be unaffected by the forked chains and drama of Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCA) and Bitcoin Cash Nchain/Coingeek (BCN) chains and respective tokens.
Cobra’s New Client Backed By Bold and Unconfirmed Claims
Moreover, Cobra makes some pretty interesting claims as well after announcing his new BCH client. In fact, Cobra says there is a “commitment equivalent to at least 25% of the existing Bitcoin Cash hashing power backing the upgrade.” Cobra also claims a number of business have tested the version and it will make sure continues use of the BCH ticker remains. With replay protection Cobra says BCH users can “safely sell BCA and BCN tokens” without the split affecting an investor’s BCH.
“Widespread adoption of Cobra Client allows Bitcoin Cash to continue servicing businesses and retail without interruption or failure as one would expect from something claiming to be the equivalent of digital cash,” explains Cobra.
For businesses, the best way to avoid a chaotic situation and have uninterrupted service to customers is to run the Cobra Client software in November. Investors and users of Bitcoin Cash should run Cobra Client to prevent Bitcoin Cash splintering into two competing chains, and preserve their existing Bitcoin Cash holdings and avoid getting it replayed across multiple strange chains.
Many BCH supporters were confused about the announcement, to say the least, and many suspect Cobra of just stirring the pot in order to cause chaos during the current upgrade debate. Since the consensus debate started, BCH proponents have accused swathes of BTC supporters of interfering with the upgrade conversation in order to intentionally cause strife. Furthermore, Cobra’s claims are very bold especially the so-called commitment equivalent to at least 25 percent of the BCH hash power, so a lot of people find his statements to be unbelievable. At the moment Cobra Client is currently undergoing testing and will be released in the next few weeks, Cobra concludes. The BCH community will have to wait and see if this announcement from Cobra comes to fruition.
What do you think about the Cobra Client announcement? Do you think Bitcoin Cash supporters should trust Cobra or should they be leery of the snake-like character? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comment section below.
Images via Pixabay, and Twitter.
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