A little bit more information has come to light regarding the recently launched CANOE bitcoin mining pool. Considering this platform supports Bitcoin unlimited right away, there was some speculation as to who is behind this venture. It turns out the operator, going by the name of Li Ang, is more open-minded than originally assumed. While BU support is a given fro now, the team remains open to other scaling solutions if they make enough sense.
There Is More To CANOE Pool Than Assumed
It is good to see CANOE pool is keeping an open mind towards how bitcoin should scale in the future. It is evident there is a lot of political debate regarding the future of bitcoin, which has caused every scaling solution to become somewhat controversial as a result. Both SegWit and Bitcoin unlimited are struggling for network support, yet none of them seems to successfully get close to its respective activation threshold.
All of the mining power controlled by CANOE pool apparently resides in their mining facility, located in Sichuan. The team is working on setting up a second base of operations in the Xinjian province. The team is hopeful they will be able to add a few more petahashes to the pool before March 15, 2017. This second facility is co-founded by Bitmain and other players in the bitcoin mining industry. Ultimately, the goal is to turn this second facility into the world’s largest mining pool.
The decision to support Bitcoin Unlimited – and only BU – was considered as somewhat controversial a few weeks ago. The reason for this is simple: CANOE pool feels Blockstream’s involvement in Bitcoin Core development is not beneficial to the network itself. Moreover, the Lightning Network will – according to Li Ang – not solve the long-term problem of network congestion. An intriguing thought that will cause a fair bit of discussion among cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Interestingly enough, Li Ang believes most newcomers to bitcoin won’t support either BU or the Lightning Network. Most people lack the technical knowledge to understand these concepts, let alone why one is better than the other. This would explain why so many miners are not bothered to support either solution for the time being. Bitcoin can scale beyond what most people would like to think is possible, and it is due time political agendas are put aside for the betterment of the network.
CANOE pool ultimately supports whichever solution will increase bitcoin’s capacity. While Bitcoin Unlimited is more favorable to the team right now, they are keeping a close eye on other scaling solutions. BU’s plan is not “the best” in their opinion, but the capacity increase is a solid suggestion. It is good to see this mining pool keep an open mind for now, yet it also highlights scaling bitcoin remains a big issue that needs solving sooner rather than later.
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