Threats to execute Bitcoin hard fork arise the day after cancellation

The controversial SegWit2x fork was gave rise to mixed reactions from Bitcoiners. Its cancellation came as a relief to those against the “corporate takeover” and a disappointment to its supporters. However, an interesting event took place the very next day when a GitHub user wrote, “a handful of humans cannot stop what they have no control over.” The identity and whereabouts of the user, going by the name 'BitPico' are unknown, but his statement has been raising speculations.

In their November 9th statement, BitPico wrote, “we are carrying out the fork regardless as everything is set in motion. Wonder why 30% network hash-rate disappeared?  It’s ours.” The statement didn’t receive much attention at first but then the Bitcoin2x.org website appeared and made a similar statement as well. “We have decided to continue with the fork as planned. We will not allow the destiny of Bitcoin to be controlled by six individuals,” it said.

Although there is no proof that this website has any link to BitPico, their similar statements added fuel to fire as Bitcoin enthusiasts actually started to get worried.  One of the fork’s principal proponents assured them that “without the miners to enforce, it will be a tiny offshoot that mints blocks once a day or so.” This is not so reassuring as there is a chance that miners will enforce it.

Anyone can fork Bitcoin’s code, as it is an open source project, but the fork will only work if there are others who want to use the new blocks. Small forks inevitably fail as it is nearly impossible to maintain a fork without the majority of users wishing to move over. If BitPico’s claim of being in control of one third of Bitcoin’s computer power is true, then this won’t be a problem for them.

BitPico's claims fall short when looking at the evidence. For instance, Bitcoin did see a decline in hashrate, but not as much as 30%. Secondly, BitPico was not among those who had signed the New York Agreement that set SegWit2x into motion. Additionally, if they are as influential as they claim to be, then their existence would certainly be more noticeable than it is right now.

As per the statement, the fork will occur on November 16th, the original fork date. It will be quite interesting to see how this turns out and find out whether these claims hold any solid ground or not.