It is evident the Bitcoin network issues cause severe problems. This is not just applicable to users, but also all service providers. BarterDEX, for example, decided to completely disable BTC-based trading. A very interesting decision, although it is also rather logical. With such a massive transaction backlog to contend with, the world’s leading cryptocurrency is struggling quite a bit. It also seems the Bitcoin functionality will not be enabled again in the future. An interesting precedent, to say the very least.
Bitcoin is not the most functional cryptocurrency to use right now. The network suffers from high fees and a major transaction backlog. Unfortunately, these issues have been prevalent for quite some time now. It is unclear if and when they will be resolved. Until that happens, BarterDEX will not enable Bitcoin transactions on the exchange again. The owner is fed up with these issues affecting Bitcoin right now. An understandable decision, although an unexpected one as well.
BarterDEX Disables Bitcoin Trades
More specifically, the team wants to focus on atomic swaps involving Bitcoin. Or that was the plan, until very recently. The Bitcoin mempool is causing a lot of issues in this regard. Even atomic swaps cannot be executed unless transactions are confirmed by the network. Right now, that is extremely difficult to achieve at times. It all depends on which transactions miners decide to process. The ones with higher fees will have the upper hand in this regard.
Moreover, the BarterDEX owner claims a 30-minute delay for Bitcoin-based atomic swaps is in effect right now. That defeats the purpose of this entire concept almost immediately. Even paying a premium fee – which shouldn’t be necessary in the first place – isn’t a guarantee of success whatsoever. As a result, the Bitcoin functionality is now disabled completely and will not be reinstated when network congestion occurs. This will, most likely, mean BarterDEX won’t deal with Bitcoin all that often in the future.
Last but not least, it seems the operator wants to integrate Bitcoin Cash support moving forward. This can only happen once BCH has the capabilities to perform atomic swaps. That feature is still in development as we speak and should be finalized shortly. It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out in the coming days and weeks. Bitcoin has many issues to deal with and service providers run out of patience. This may be the beginning of a very negative spiral for the world’s leading cryptocurrency.
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