The upcoming BIP148 activation August 1st is a monumental moment in Bitcoin’s history. At that time, we will know who fully supports SegWit and who doesn’t. It remains unclear if the BIP148 chain will get enough mining support to sustain itself, though. ViaBTC, which recently launched a cryptocurrency trading platform, is launching BIP148 futures contracts. A rather interesting decision, to say the least.
It is quite intriguing to see ViaBTC launch BIP148 futures trading. The company acknowledges the user-activated soft fork is an important moment in Bitcoin history. However, it remains to be seen how much support this solution will receive in the long run. In fact, it is possible this activation will lead to a blockchain split on the Bitcoin network, which would be a catastrophic outcome.
BIP148 Activation Is A Big Moment for Bitcoin
Should such a chain split occur, the survival chance of BIP148 may not be all that great? Moreover, one of the two blockchains will ultimately become the “inferior coin”. ViaBTC feels the future of BIP148 hangs in the balance and aims to make some profit from people speculating on its success. As a result, they launched the 148 token, which acts as a USF futures contract of sorts. Interestingly enough, this token can only be traded against Ethereum.
As of June 15th, which is today, ViaBTC exchange users can trade Bitcoin for 148 at a 1:1 ratio. As a result, their original Bitcoin will be converted to 1 “148” token and 1 “BTC_FROZEN1” token. It is impossible to directly deposit or withdraw either of these two new tokens. Users can trade the 148 token against Ethereum from today onward. It is quite interesting to see this particular trading market being created, though.Most people would expect a 148/BTC market, yet that is not the case.
On August 1st, all of the BTC_FROZEN1 tokens will be converted to Bitcoin once again. It is possible the 148 tokens can be withdrawn from that moment onward, albeit that remains to be seen. If the BIP148 would fail, the 148/ETH trading pair will be removed. Additionally, all 148 assets will be completely removed. Anyone partaking in this contract will not lose Bitcoin, yet stand to gain a lot of money from betting on the future. They will either earn 148 tokens, Ethereum or gain nothing at all in the end.
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