Bitcoin Software Wars: Discussions Heat Up as November Hard Fork Approaches
September is almost over, and the Segwit2x plan to hard fork the network’s block size to 2MB is approaching quickly. Because time is running out the topic is once again heating up, as some New York Agreement (NYA) signatories have removed themselves from the list, with arguments between users and industry members continuing to escalate.
Also read: Bitcoin Software Wars: The Battle Between Nodes, Hashpower, and Developers
Latin American Bitcoin Peer-to-Peer Loan Platform Wayniloans Leaves the New York Agreement
News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on the mining organization F2 Pool announcing its intention to stop supporting Segwit2x’s hard fork this coming November. On September 19 the bitcoin peer-to-peer lending platform, Wayniloans says the business is also walking away from the NYA compromise. The company’s co-founder, Juan Salviolo revealed the announcement via the Segwit2x development mailing list.
“On Wayniloans part or our business is achieved thanks to bitcoin, and in May we agreed to a sentence to reach consensus for the good of the ecosystem,” explains Salviolo. “This sentence was later changed to a longer agreement without our notice, and it was known as the New York Agreement (NYA). At the time we didn’t know that existing developers wouldn’t support it, or that most Latin American bitcoin users, our customers, would view it as a contentious proposal.”
Also, without mandatory replay protection (not opt-in) on Segwit2x, we wouldn’t be able to operate the crypto part of our business without the risk of missing funds or legal actions.
Erik Voorhees: “The Segwit2x Upgrade Will Have Consensus”
Replay protection has been a contentious subject concerning the development of Segwit2x and has caused numerous arguments. Replay attack protection ensures a malicious actor cannot replay the transaction on one chain and fraudulently claim coins on the other chain. Just recently, a post on r/bitcoin has revealed a bitcoin user who was upset with Erik Voorhees for “not honoring his commitment, to ensure all hard forks are safe by adding replay protection.”
According to the author, Voorhees blocked him on Twitter, however, the Shapeshift founder disagrees with his perspective. Voorhees says he understands that a lot of r/bitcoin subscribers do not like Segwit2x, but a great majority of businesses and miners do support the plan.
“If the hashpower and the biggest wallet providers stay the course, as they have indicated, then the hardfork in November will have overwhelming support,” Voorhees details. “Unless you want to say “consensus” means “universal agreement,” this Segwit2x upgrade will have consensus. (And nothing has “universal agreement” except the blockchain itself… because of the miners).”
Several thousand angry /r/bitcoin subscribers do not dictate bitcoin, but this sub has become such an echo-chamber, such a den of group-think that those here have utterly convinced themselves they represent “the community” — There are many pieces of the community, and a huge portion is proceeding with the Segwit2x upgrade.
Jeff Garzik: ‘The Plan Remains the Same’
The Segwit2x plan for November is still happening as the working group’s lead developer, Jeff Garzik, revealed on September 18, “The plan remains the same.” According to statistics from Coin Dance, Segwit2x support is still 93 percent, at the time of writing, as far as hash power is concerned. So far only a couple of businesses like Bitwala and Wayniloans have backed away from the Segwit2x agreement, and F2 Pool’s blocks still say ‘NYA’ in the mining pool’s coinbase data.
What do you think about the prospects of the Segwit2x hard fork happening this November? Let us know in the comments below.
Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, and Wayniloans Twitter account.
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