Topic: [2017-10-26] Bitcoin itself could split next month wsj.com (Read 6027 times)
If bitcoin again splits in itself again in November, with one having a more payment function, and another with a value storage function, it will be something new. It already looks like really split, and not on the separation of the coin from the original bitcoin. I understood that I did not invent a new bitcoin. Each month, bitcoin issues a new free coin of high cost. It already looks like its new function.
Mainstream journalists tend to overdramatize their reports on Bitcoin, perhaps out of their habit of making sensations out of nothing. It was exactly the same on August 1st - they were reporting that "Bitcoin split in two", that some $6 billion network was created in a single day and that Bitcoin community was suffering from a civil war. For outsiders or Bitcoin newbies it all sounds like Bitcoin is in a serious trouble, while in reality it's just a group of miners and businesses throwing tantrum again and trying to force community to follow their chain as the real Bitcoin - but since they don't have support from users, that's not going to happen. So, it's unlikely that there will be any big disruption that might cause Bitcoin's price to drop.
This is already becoming interesting. At the next fork, bitcoin itself can split and give a coin, which allows us to unify the functions of payment and storage of bitcoin values. Maybe it will be a good improvement? In essence, the market will then determine whether such innovation deserves approval or not. Very interesting.
I would not really call of these forks as splits because at the end of the day there will always be the one and only real Bitcoin and all the rest are just another altcoins. As of now and in the foreseeable future, nobody can replace the popularity and use of Bitcoin...in fact there can be better cryptocurrency than Bitcoin but if people will continue to patronize Bitcoin then it just just like having a democratic vote...the one which got the most 'yes' will always be the winner. And that winner is Bitcoin.
We may have a hard fork every month (and I would not mind receiving my free altcoins every month) but still Bitcoin will continue unaffected. After what happened in the August 1 hard fork, the market has already matured and has already ready itself for more hard forks. Hard forks with so much fat may not be good for the body, though.
Seriously speaking, maybe it is really high time that the whole group responsible with deciding on many issues affecting Bitcoin should use and follow democratic principles...the choice which got the most votes should be respected and followed. To expect to have a 100% yes to a certain idea can be absurd since we are not just dealing here with 10 people.
We may have a hard fork every month (and I would not mind receiving my free altcoins every month) but still Bitcoin will continue unaffected. After what happened in the August 1 hard fork, the market has already matured and has already ready itself for more hard forks. Hard forks with so much fat may not be good for the body, though.
Seriously speaking, maybe it is really high time that the whole group responsible with deciding on many issues affecting Bitcoin should use and follow democratic principles...the choice which got the most votes should be respected and followed. To expect to have a 100% yes to a certain idea can be absurd since we are not just dealing here with 10 people.
Bitcoin’s Sectarian Battles Heat Up
Amid the rise of bitcoin imitators, a potentially even bigger disruption looms: Bitcoin itself could split next month
As bitcoin imitators proliferate, a bigger disruption looms: Bitcoin itself could split.
As bitcoin imitators proliferate, a bigger disruption looms: Bitcoin itself could split. PHOTO: DAN KITWOOD/GETTY IMAGES
By Paul Vigna
Oct. 25, 2017 4:50 p.m. ET
10 COMMENTS
The truth is getting messy in the world of cryptocurrencies.
The digital currency bitcoin was created with a unique feature—a public online ledger, not controlled by any one party, that contains the immutable trading history of the entire network. It was seen as a representation of the truth itself.
But several imitators to the original, “legacy” version of bitcoin have popped up recently, all with variations on the name: Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Dark, Bitcoin Plus, BitcoinZ. This week, another one, Bitcoin Gold, started trading. They all have their own ledger, their own version of the truth.
A potentially even bigger disruption looms, though: Bitcoin itself could split next month. If that were to happen, one version of bitcoin would be optimized more for payments, the other to be a store of value akin to gold.
Such a split would overshadow the other competitors, most of which have failed to gain much market share from bitcoin itself.
The dollar volume of trading in BitcoinZ during a recent 24-hour period, for example, totaled $18,965, or about 3.5 bitcoins, according to research site coinmarketcap.
The newest entrant, Bitcoin Gold, is hoping a wrinkle will attract more trading: It is designed so that people can “mine” for the currency using nothing more powerful than a computer with a graphics chip.
Bitcoin Gold began trading Monday, changing hands at as high as $540. By Wednesday, the value had fallen to $134. The currency’s 24-hour volume in dollar terms totaled $19.5 million, according to coinmarketcap.
Bitcoin, by contrast, had trading volume of around $2 billion in the 24 hours that ended midday Wednesday. Bitcoin on Wednesday traded around $5,500, down from an all-time high on Saturday of $6,138.
Most of the upstarts are the result of a long-simmering fight over how best to expand the bitcoin network. One side, led mainly by developers, has favored not making any changes, for now at least. The other side, led mainly by businesses, has been in favor of expanding capacity. This would be done via what’s called a “fork,” a term for a new version of existing software.
Forks can be “soft,” meaning the new version is compatible with the old. Or they can be “hard,” meaning the new version isn’t compatible.
Because bitcoin is an open-source software project, there is no constraint on anyone who wants to take the code, tweak it to their liking and release it publicly.
The problem is that a small group of core developers control the keys to bitcoin’s software, which are needed to make changes. And they are refusing to go along with any alterations. That has spurred various groups to create their own versions of bitcoin, doing so via a hard fork.
In some cases, iterations of bitcoin can lead to a windfall. Typically, each new version of bitcoin incorporates the trading history of the legacy version.
This means that existing bitcoin holders suddenly find their balances recorded in two places: the ledger for the legacy version, and the ledger for the new version.
In essence, this creates new digital coins for a bitcoin holder in addition to their original balance. So even if a new version of bitcoin trades at a fraction of the original, it is the equivalent of found money for bitcoin holders.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoins-sectarian-battles-heat-up-1508964607?mod=e2tw
Amid the rise of bitcoin imitators, a potentially even bigger disruption looms: Bitcoin itself could split next month
As bitcoin imitators proliferate, a bigger disruption looms: Bitcoin itself could split.
As bitcoin imitators proliferate, a bigger disruption looms: Bitcoin itself could split. PHOTO: DAN KITWOOD/GETTY IMAGES
By Paul Vigna
Oct. 25, 2017 4:50 p.m. ET
10 COMMENTS
The truth is getting messy in the world of cryptocurrencies.
The digital currency bitcoin was created with a unique feature—a public online ledger, not controlled by any one party, that contains the immutable trading history of the entire network. It was seen as a representation of the truth itself.
But several imitators to the original, “legacy” version of bitcoin have popped up recently, all with variations on the name: Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Dark, Bitcoin Plus, BitcoinZ. This week, another one, Bitcoin Gold, started trading. They all have their own ledger, their own version of the truth.
A potentially even bigger disruption looms, though: Bitcoin itself could split next month. If that were to happen, one version of bitcoin would be optimized more for payments, the other to be a store of value akin to gold.
Such a split would overshadow the other competitors, most of which have failed to gain much market share from bitcoin itself.
The dollar volume of trading in BitcoinZ during a recent 24-hour period, for example, totaled $18,965, or about 3.5 bitcoins, according to research site coinmarketcap.
The newest entrant, Bitcoin Gold, is hoping a wrinkle will attract more trading: It is designed so that people can “mine” for the currency using nothing more powerful than a computer with a graphics chip.
Bitcoin Gold began trading Monday, changing hands at as high as $540. By Wednesday, the value had fallen to $134. The currency’s 24-hour volume in dollar terms totaled $19.5 million, according to coinmarketcap.
Bitcoin, by contrast, had trading volume of around $2 billion in the 24 hours that ended midday Wednesday. Bitcoin on Wednesday traded around $5,500, down from an all-time high on Saturday of $6,138.
Most of the upstarts are the result of a long-simmering fight over how best to expand the bitcoin network. One side, led mainly by developers, has favored not making any changes, for now at least. The other side, led mainly by businesses, has been in favor of expanding capacity. This would be done via what’s called a “fork,” a term for a new version of existing software.
Forks can be “soft,” meaning the new version is compatible with the old. Or they can be “hard,” meaning the new version isn’t compatible.
Because bitcoin is an open-source software project, there is no constraint on anyone who wants to take the code, tweak it to their liking and release it publicly.
The problem is that a small group of core developers control the keys to bitcoin’s software, which are needed to make changes. And they are refusing to go along with any alterations. That has spurred various groups to create their own versions of bitcoin, doing so via a hard fork.
In some cases, iterations of bitcoin can lead to a windfall. Typically, each new version of bitcoin incorporates the trading history of the legacy version.
This means that existing bitcoin holders suddenly find their balances recorded in two places: the ledger for the legacy version, and the ledger for the new version.
In essence, this creates new digital coins for a bitcoin holder in addition to their original balance. So even if a new version of bitcoin trades at a fraction of the original, it is the equivalent of found money for bitcoin holders.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoins-sectarian-battles-heat-up-1508964607?mod=e2tw
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