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2x Called Off: Bitcoin Hard Fork Suspended for Lack of Consensus (coindesk.com)

Posted by msmash on from the tussle-continues dept.

Alyssa Hertig, writing for CoinDesk: The organizers of a controversial bitcoin scaling proposal are suspending an attempt to increase the block size by way of a software upgrade. Known for its strong early support from bitcoin startups and mining pools, the plan, called Segwit2x, or simply 2x, was to trigger a block size increase at block 494784, expected to occur on or around November 16th. The suspension was announced today in an email, written by Mike Belshe, CEO and co-founder of bitcoin wallet software provider BitGo. One of the leaders of the Segwit2x project, he argued that the scaling proposal is too controversial to move forward. He wrote: "Unfortunately, it is clear that we have not built sufficient consensus for a clean block size upgrade at this time. Continuing on the current path could divide the community and be a setback to Bitcoin's growth. This was never the goal of Segwit2x."

50 comments

  1. Animosity by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Nodes that supported the fork were actually being actively blocked by other nodes. I don't know if that had any effect in his announcement, but it might have affected his ability to even mine.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    1. Re:Animosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't this all this show that Bitcoin is in fact a form of 'centralization'. Look at it from a basic computer science perspective. You have a group of code contributors who then update code to a group of servers which is all administrated (or you could say governed) by a small group of people.

      This fork so-to-speak is nothing more than congress getting together to talk about the next tax regulation. Or the fed getting together to talk about the next rate hike. But in this case, its run by a bunch of randoms, who have just as much to lose as any crooked politician.

      Not that I'm advocating that the Fed is any better. I rather see Blockchain tech not really as a form of decentralisaton, rather just a form of redundancy, nothing more.

    2. Re:Animosity by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      It is designed to be centralized. That's the whole point, it is a fiat currency!

    3. Re: Animosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It would mean that blocks which built on top of the forked chain would only be relayed by 2x nodes even if those blocks were mined within the consensus ruleset.

      Many in the community agree on the need for an eventual blocksize increase once consensus is reached on how best to do that.

      It should be noted the 2x hard fork was backed, in part, by the same crew that forked into Bitcoin Cash a few months ago.

  2. Time to invest.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Bitcoin value has spiked on this news. Is it possible this was an elaborate ruse for someone to make a fortune investing in Bitcoin at a certain time, know it's guaranteed to jump on the news?

    1. Re:Time to invest.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      No. Currency markets are tightly regulated; such behavior would surely result in charges being sought and probably jailtime. Basically trying to manipulate markets is highly illegal and usually results in a very large slap on the wrist, such that it's not worth it.

    2. Re:Time to invest.. by Kenja · · Score: 2

      So you're saying buy high and sell low? Let us know how that works out for you.

      --

      "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    3. Re:Time to invest.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The fact that it is unregulated is precisely what makes ButtCoin so ripe for unsavory manipulation...

    4. Re:Time to invest.. by MMC+Monster · · Score: 2

      Hint: Bitcoin and other Blockchain-related coins are not regulated by anyone.

      Not only is currency manipulation not considered illegal when associated with these instruments, but insider trading can be legally done as well.

      --
      Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
    5. Re:Time to invest.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Supporters claim the strength of Bitcoin is the fact it's not under control of government, then those same supporters say it needs to be regulated by government.

      only a fool even uses a crypto currency because it will make you a slave to a corporation or to government and your entire family will be made a slave at the same time.

      If you value your freedom then don't ever use a crypto currency. Don't ever accept it as a form of payment. Don't ever do business with any corporation or government entity that tries to force you to use it.

    6. Re:Time to invest.. by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      Can you please make an account already so that we can be friends?

      People here are mean and keep calling me a moran and I don't know why!

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    7. Re:Time to invest.. by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      It works fine, thank you very much!

      Sent from my iPhone in the upside-down world.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    8. Re:Time to invest.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Erm, are you looking at things upside down? Unless when you say spiked, you meant spiked downwards....

    9. Re:Time to invest.. by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      Supporters claim the strength of Bitcoin is the fact it's not under control of government, then those same supporters say it needs to be regulated by government.

      No they don't. I know plenty of bitcoin advocates, and none of them want government regulation. How would "government regulation" even work? Most bitcoins are mined in China, so the only plausible regulation would have to be done by the Chinese government. How many people are calling for that?

    10. Re:Time to invest.. by oakgrove · · Score: 1

      Hint: Bitcoin and other Blockchain-related coins are not regulated by anyone.

      Well enjoy it while it lasts cuz the SEC is going to come down on this like a ton of bricks. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.
      https://www.coindesk.com/obvio...
      https://arstechnica.com/tech-p...

      --
      The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
    11. Re:Time to invest.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      fuck you and the sec you fucking bootlicking slave

    12. Re:Time to invest.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, forgot to sign it.
      --
      roman_mir

    13. Re:Time to invest.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well enjoy it while it lasts cuz the SEC is going to come down on this like a ton of bricks. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.

      Oh I certainly hope they do. Bitcoin could use the breathing room and it would be healthy for the community to lose the statists so we can focus on developing the best money we can rather than trying to bow to imagined masters.

      To the "Bitcoin needs to be regulated so it can go mainstream" crowd: Bitcoin is not suitable for slaves and nor should it ever be. People that fully trust and obey the current governments of the world should be using government money exclusively.

    14. Re:Time to invest.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah look at those really big fines they banks got for the libor scandal right? They had it right just make sure that whatever money you manipulate out of the system, that it factors in the cost of doing business, i mean the fine.

    15. Re:Time to invest.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If the source code can be changed and those changes then get uploaded to servers. Isn't this just another form of regulation? call it an irregular form of regulation ;)

    16. Re:Time to invest.. by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Governments consistently advise that currency trading is already regulated, and if you don't follow the rules you'll go to jail. The law already allows for and regulates private currencies! In fact, here in the United States in the early period of our country we only had private currency, so it is not at all surprising that regulations already exist.

    17. Re:Time to invest.. by oakgrove · · Score: 1

      You misunderstood me completely. Iâ(TM)m not in favor of the regulations. Merely stating the situation as it appears to be playing out.

      --
      The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
  3. Segwit2x? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seems more like Dimwit2x now

  4. When will people realize by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Explaining how to use an 8 decimal system is much easier than new coins or even ICO's

  5. hq3x is better anyway by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 4, Funny

    I would have voted for a proposal to incorporate 2xSAI as well, but hq3x has long been the best option available. Does anyone even know how Segwit2x works?

    --
    Support my political activism on Patreon.
    1. Re:hq3x is better anyway by olsmeister · · Score: 1

      doubles block size from 1 MB to 2 MB.

    2. Re:hq3x is better anyway by sexconker · · Score: 3, Informative

      He's making a joke. He's referring to filters for emulating old games.

  6. That settles it then! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm putting all my monies into this golden bitcoin payday. I'm sure someone here will tell me where to invest right??

    1. Re:That settles it then! by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      I'm telling you, it's a sure thing!

      Just go back to 2009 and buy two pizzas' worth of Bitcoins!

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  7. Harbinger of future manipulation & collapse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Boy if this ain’t a sign of morbidity... just wait until a syndicate of Chinese miners make further demands on pain of not having transactions accepted. Regardless of how good the underlying ideas may be, the collapse to power plays will be glorious--at least to people not speculating.

    1. Re:Harbinger of future manipulation & collapse by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Even if Bitcoin falls, there's dozens of other cryptos already lined up to take its place.

      Ethereum keeps having problems so I'm writing it off, Litecoin should be the logical choice since AFAIK it's existed the longest after Bitcoin. Next up could be Dogecoin, Monero, Vertcoin, etc.

      Any takers for Flappycoins, though? I got about 7.75 million of those for sale. Any takers at 10 satoshi each?

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re:Harbinger of future manipulation & collapse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bitcoin isn't likely to fail soon, Bitcoin is months away from potentially being listed on futures exchanges where the big bankers and 401k holders will be able to sink tons of money into it. I would expect a sharp rise in value over the next 6 months to a year. Aside from the consensus factor over segwit2x, doing anything to bitcoin at this time where it might question it being listed on those futures exchanges is probably another big factor in holding off on this for now.

      If you have the money to buy an entire bitcoin it might not be a bad idea. Once you get all these other players in the game it might be nearly impossible for anyone but the big guys to ever own an entire bitcoin due to the limited supply. You can still own fractions of a coin though. I myself own 0.3 bitcoin and would like to slowly work my way up to an entire bitcoin as money allows.

    3. Re:Harbinger of future manipulation & collapse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Real talk: if you can't afford $7000 to buy a whole bitcoin, you shouldn't be investing at all. You need to build up a decent emergency cash fund before making risky investments.

    4. Re:Harbinger of future manipulation & collapse by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      He could still invest $70 and own 1% of a Bitcoin. There's currently 8 decimal places to divide a Bitcoin so even 1% is still a lot.

      There's not going to be enough Bitcoins that each millionaire on the planet could ever own 1 Bitcoin each. I'd say owning 1% of a Bitcoin is still a lot better than none at all. And he already owns 30% of one. If he can afford to buy 50 dollars' worth of Bitcoin each week, let him do it.

      I'm still kicking myself for not buying Bitcoins when I first heard about them right here on Slashdot. And I'm still kicking myself for not buying Dash, Litecoin and Monero when they were below $2 each.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    5. Re:Harbinger of future manipulation & collapse by Gussington · · Score: 1

      I'm still kicking myself for not buying Bitcoins when I first heard about them right here on Slashdot.

      Aren't we all. After much cynicism I bit the bullet earlier this year and have already made a couple of grand. A mate which jumped in least year is up a couple of hundred grand. Oh the benefits of hindsight...

  8. Re:DIY Cryptocurrency Mining... by hoggoth · · Score: 1

    You keep trying...

    Bitcoins are mined with specialized ASIC chips now. Trying to use GPUs would be a waste of (a lot of) money because you couldn't compete.

    But you keep posting this ad, I'm sure some sucker will buy...

    --
    - For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat /dev/random (may take some time)
  9. Re:DIY Cryptocurrency Mining... by powerlord · · Score: 1

    I'm convinced most of the mining craze is being pushed by the GPU makers who can barely keep their units on the virtual Shelves before being sold out ... regularly ... of those models "used by Crypto Miners".

    --
    This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
  10. and when China firewalls bitcoin to be china only? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    and when China firewalls bitcoin to be china only?

  11. Re:DIY Cryptocurrency Mining... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    He said crypto currency, he does not mention Bitcoin.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  12. Re:DIY Cryptocurrency Mining... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    People mining with GPUs are not mining bitcoin. Bitcoin has been dominated by ASICs for several years already, no GPU can compete. You would be blowing away more money in hardware and power than you would ever make mining the Bitcoin that way. People using GPUs are mining other alt coins, that don't yet have ASICs to mine them. If one of those alt coins becomes popular enough you can bet ASICs will be developed and all these people with GPU mining rigs will be in the same situation as people trying to mine Bitcoin with GPUs. No software programmable CPU or GPU will ever be as fast as pure silicon ASICs doing the same job.

  13. Re:DIY Cryptocurrency Mining... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's probably more profitable to try posting adspam to slashdot instead.

  14. Re:DIY Cryptocurrency Mining... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    he didn't say "bitcoin" mining he said "crypto currency" mining, jackass

  15. I told you so. by Narcocide · · Score: 1

    Glad to see someone is paying attention, at least.

  16. Re: Harbinger of future manipulation & collaps by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are two parts to an investment: when to buy and when to sell. Until you sell those Bitcoin, you haven't made a dime.

  17. Bet on the fork by Drunkulus · · Score: 1

    I wager 200 quatloos on the newcomer.

  18. Props by uvajed_ekil · · Score: 1

    Props to the developers and other proponents of 2x. I was a casual supporter, but I give them a lot of credit now for walking away from their own project after being convinced that it was not in the best interests of the greater Bitcoin community. They had a good point and an arguably acceptable progression of the technology, but if widespread adoption could not be agreed upon, cancelling their fork was the right call. That takes humility, as sheer pride would have prevented a lot of people from changing their minds.

    Traders sure seem optimistic about this, today at least! And Ethereum is finally beginning to follow suit after lagging quite a bit lately.

    --
    This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
  19. You can wipe your ass with cash. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What the hell can you do with bitcoin when it's worth nothing?

  20. A good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bitcoin's support community may be growing up in the governance category.
    But they still have to figure out how change scale of the implementation without breaking the contract it implements.

    BC seems somewhere between a very useful new way to do money and a Ponzi scheme.
    How well these things get sorted out may have a great deal to do with deciding which.