Every time the mainstream media try to cover bitcoin news, things seem to unravel quite fast. A new article posted on Bloomberg has a lot of people concerned, as it indicates very little research was put into the writing of it. Instead, this seems to be more of a promotional article than anything else. The topic of controversy is Antpool and their switch to Bitcoin Unlimited.
A Blatant Bitcoin Unlimited PR Stunt?
The article posted on Bloomberg leaves very little to the imagination, although things are not as dire as they are portrayed. For example, the article mentioned how some of the most influential bitcoin members give up on achieving consensus and back Bitcoin Unlimited right now.
While that is certainly true, this also highlights how this particular thought piece is certainly more than a promotional stunt for Bitcoin Unlimited. Moreover, this also highlights the potential of seeing bitcoin fork in the future, which is nothing to be proud of.
Everyone in the bitcoin world is well aware of how Antpool supports Bitcoin Unlimited. It has also increased the number of BU blocks mined on the network as of late. This move is anything but surprising, although it remains to be seen if it will have any lasting impact whatsoever. Some people feel Roger Ver, Bitmain, and everyone else supporting BU is effectively creating a new altcoin, rather than try to move bitcoin ahead.
One other piece in the article that irks a lot of people is how there seems no specific activation threshold for Bitcoin Unlimited. The percentage required sits anywhere between 50% and 75%, yet no one seems to know for sure how much is actually needed.
According to Roger Ver, he mentions “60 or 70 percent”, which does not help resolve this matter by any means. It also makes this whole PR campaign look unprofessional. It is evident there is no clear plan in place to activate BU anytime soon, unless “a comfortable majority is attracted”.
The article also talks about how there is a split ecosystem in the Ethereum world. If anything, Bitcoin supporters should learn from that mistake and not allow history to repeat itself. Creating BTC and BTU is not an option by any means, yet the Bitcoin Unlimited supporters seem more than content to let things play out that way. A very disturbing thought, to say the least.
Moreover, if Bitcoin follows Ethereum’s example by splitting, prices of both currencies will collapse very quickly. Once again, more evidence of how Bitcoin Unlimited supporters do not necessarily have bitcoin’s best interests at heart right now.
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