Upcoming Bitcoin hard fork expected around November 16th

After the Bitcoin Cash hard fork took place in August, another hard fork, SegWit2x, is expected to take place on November 16th. Bitcoin has gone through forks before, but it is the first time that a split will create two competing versions of Bitcoin which will replace the original currency.

The reason for this fork is the need to update the core software that runs Bitcoin. After the split, there will be two Bitcoin Blockchains - one using smaller 1MB blocks and the other using bigger 2MB blocks. These “blocks” refer to records of Bitcoin transactions that create permanent Blockchain ledgers.

Coinbase, along with other large exchanges, have already confirmed their accommodation of both of these versions. This means that clients already having coins at the time of the fork will also hold the same number of coins of the newer version as well.

Miners and relevant companies all over the world have mixed feelings regarding the split. Some miners, along with wallet providers and certain exchanges, support the fork saying that bigger blocks are needed to accommodate the rapid growth of the network. However, some developers within the network argue that this fork is not the right way to address the need for bigger blocks and resembles a corporate takeover of Bitcoin. They believe that the core software that has led Bitcoin this far must be maintained. Many mining groups and companies agree with this point of view.

According to Samson Mow, the CSO of Blockstream, advocates for this split are supporting it solely due to their ego, as it is too late to back out now. “Either they are technically incapable of conceiving scaling methods other than block sizes increases, or they are trying to set Bitcoin on a path of centralization by making it more difficult for people to run nodes,” he commented.

Bitcoin promoters and experts fear that a disagreement over the “real” bitcoin will take place after the fork. Some also fear that the big block version of bitcoin might lack certain technical measures. Most probably, the version to get higher mainstream acceptance will prevail. However, it cannot be said how long it will take for the winning version to emerge. If the winner is unclear shortly after the fork, confusion among the investors may adversely affect the booming Cryptocurrency market.