Bitcoin Cash May See Another Hard Fork, Here’s Why
The Bitcoin Cash protocol might see another second split in the coming weeks after new changes were proposed by the Bitcoin ABC development team. Some of these see miners making 8% lesser on rewards.
Bitcoin Cash Could Split, Again
The Bitcoin ABC development team yesterday released a new version of its latest, controversial upgrade, noted a report on crypto publication Decrypt. The upgrade includes a major change to take place on November 15, designed to fund blockchain development, but it’s so unpopular it might split the blockchain in two, it said.
When passed, it will mark the third time the Bitcoin Cash – itself a split of Bitcoin – will be forked. In 2018, the network saw a fallout between its promotors and gave rise to Bitcoin SV (short for Satoshi Vision). The fork promised better miner rewards and faster transactions.
However, a new split is in the works now. The Bitcoin Cash community says it wants to further decentralize the network and the protocol’s future development process. And for all these things, there’s a new fork.
How Did the Debate Begin?
The debate started when the team behind Bitcoin ABC, a full node implementation of the BCH protocol, unveiled its “Infrastructure Funding Proposal” on August 18 this year. It said at the time the fork would result in eight percent of mining rewards being used for infrastructure development.
Or in other words – 92% of the rewards will go to the miner, the other to an account controlled by the Bitcoin ABC team.
Needless to say, it’s attracted controversy. Roger Ver, one of the most popular Bitcoin Cash proponents and investors, said on a tweet that “diverting part of the Bitcoin Cash block reward to pay a single development team is a Soviet-style central planner’s dream come true.”
Diverting part of the #BitcoinCash block reward to pay a single development team is a Soviet style central planner’s dream come true.
Please stop. pic.twitter.com/5H6EKDnDjc— Roger Ver (@rogerkver) August 31, 2020
The proposal is currently being floated around and yet to be acted upon. However, if it does go through, the split would mean Bitcoin ABC loses mining support and its various exchange listings.
For now, much of the Bitcoin Cash is against the split. Simple Ledger Protocol, one of the members, said in a statement:
“We do not consider a protocol that redirects coinbase rewards, to be Bitcoin Cash (BCH), especially when such a rule was announced unilaterally.”
The show goes on.
