BCH Hard Fork: the End of an Era or a Fresh New Start?
The inevitable happened. The X day has come on November 15th when Bitcoin Cash blockchain split into two BCH versions: Bitcoin ABC version favored by Roger Ver — the founder of Bitcoin Cash, and Bitcoin «Satoshi Version» favored by Craig S Wright — an Australian entrepreneur and self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto.
For the reason the Internet is already oversaturated with different articles on the BCH fork topic, we at Changelly decided not to repeat meaningless words and predictions. Instead, we asked two frontmen of the opposing parties to share their strategic vision on the BCH further development.
Firstly, we found out about the critical features of each Bitcoin Cash version. Here’s what Roger Ver says (style and spelling of the original are kept).
Hello, Roger! Changelly team appreciates the opportunity to find out all the nuances about the BCH fork at first hand. Could you tell us what the primary purpose of the Bitcoin ABC 0.18.0 is? Which innovative options does it bring to the community?
The upgrade was made with respects to improving scalability, working towards making it suitable to be used as a global currency. There were also new tools introduced that will support the developer community.
One of the significant BTC problems is scaling capability. Can the Bitcoin ABC 0.18.0 become a solution to BTC scaling problem, or, at least, a step forward to such a solution?
Yes. They have taken a great approach to scale Bitcoin Cash.
There is a perception that one version brings the coin back to its roots, whether the other one doesn’t. Do you find it essential nowadays to stick to the roots or you support the idea of moving away from the past in such a vibrant crypto environment?
I think that we need to be focused on doing what we can to make Bitcoin Cash as usable as possible. This includes building a vibrant ecosystem around BCH, and something that we are committed to at Bitcoin.com.
Craig, in turn, is a man of few words. However, these words make a statement (style and spelling of the original are kept).
Hello, Craig, and thanks for interviewing with Changelly. What are the critical differences between BCH SV and, so to say, traditional BCH?
Bitcoin SV is the original Bitcoin. ABC is not Bitcoin when they fork. Rather simple. The things people think are flaws are why Bitcoin will survive, and, removing things like malfixes and adding SegWit in BTC… these are all dead ends.
Can you tell us the story behind the BCH «Satoshi Version» name creation?
It is returning Bitcoin to Version 0.1. Set in stone as it was designed.
Tensions flared when we tried to figure out the reasons that caused the split.
Craig, what are the main points of Bitcoin ABC 0.18.0 you strongly disagree with?
Everything. They are not Bitcoin, they are a PoS system to help WormHole offer illegal securities and to sell illegal items. The post in regards to “bucket shops” means this is going to be targeted. The SEC are already targeting ICOs, in 2019, there will be 100s of fraud cases.
How likely is that there will be two non-compatible blockchains?
There is only the original Bitcoin in a couple years. I will not say why yet, but the changes from the original, end all the others (even ETH).
Why it is so crucial for you to keep the purity of the Bitcoin code?
It is the ONLY way that it works. The ideas of mal fixes and more, are all flawed. They are dead ends. Sorry to say, but, there is nothing that works other than the original and nothing else will survive. It is a real shame so many fell for the lies that Vitalek and others promote about Bitcoin being social consensus etc. It isn’t and this is a dead end. Bitcoin works in the law. It does not replace it.
Roger Ver, though, didn’t hide his doubt towards the “opposition” asset and expressed an unwavering position of the ABC success.
Roger, could you as an ideologist of Bitcoin ABC shed some light, whether we should get ready for an emerge of two non-compatible versions of the coin?
Currently, we are seeing that two chains have emerged with blocks being mined for the Bitcoin SV fork. It is unclear if the SV coin will remaining viable as there are no wallets supporting replay protection, unknown support in block explorers, miners apparently operating at a loss, reps being openly hostile towards other chains, the potential for a large sell-off on the market, etc.
Whom do you consider to be the target audience of the new Bitcoin ABC 0.18.0? Who do you think will support it in the first place?
Bitcoin ABC touched on several points that they focus on in their Roadmap. These were broken down in to “Scaling”, “Usability”, and “Extensibility”. These improvements are meant to keep working on building the best money the world has ever seen. I believe that people who want to see Bitcoin being usable as cash will be the ones who support this upgrade.
However, when it comes to short-term predictions, the real crypto pioneers try not to give ambitious estimates as they respect the industry and don’t need to play the market. Here’s what Gerald Fabrot says, the Bitcoin ABC business developer:
Hello, Gerald. Can you share some insights with us: are you expecting a bullish or a bearish trend on the market in 2 months? What should the crypto community do to bring back the glory days of January 2018?
We do not make market predictions. We are interested in the building the future of money and spread peer-to-peer electronic cash to the world, short-term speculation has no relevance to what we develop. We were just part of a conference the day before (The Future of Money, Nikkei CBNC/BitPoint, Tokyo) where Jihan Wu was part of a panel. He discussed being very optimistic about the future of Bitcoin Cash. The fundamentals haven’t changed, and those of us who are watching all the great applications in development and enthusiasm in the community can’t help but be excited about its future.
