SegWit2x Beta Protocol and new UAHF Proposal Have Been Released

Bitcoin enthusiasts are keeping a close eye on SegWit2x. This scaling proposal now finally has a beta protocol, which was introduced on Saturday. It is evident the team still plans to go ahead with their user-activated hard fork. At the same time, a new UAHF proposal is making the rounds, known as Bitcoin ABC. It is evident the scaling debate is far from over. The coming weeks will be quite interesting for Bitcoin, to say the least.

Scaling Bitcoin will finally occur in about a month from now. The first solution to try and succeed is known as SegWit2x. Now that the beta of this scaling proposal has been released, the whole world is looking over the code and what it represents. The goal remains to activate SegWit and introduce a 2MB hard fork network upgrade accordingly. This beta release is open to peer review. It will be interesting to see how the general community responds to this particular proposal.

SegWit2x and Bitcoin ABC Aim to Scale Bitcoin

So far, it seems there are still mixed feelings toward SegWit2x. While this scaling solution has a lot of mining pool support, community members are still divided into different camps. There are those who feel SegWit2x is a “rushed job” and will only harm the network. Time will tell if there is any merit to those statements. According to the latest timetable, this source code is scheduled to go live on the Bitcoin network by July 31st at the latest. Unless major flaws are discovered, that is.

While the community focuses on SegWit2x, another UAHF proposal is starting to gain traction. Bitcoin ABC is an implementation of a user-activated hard fork. It is comparable to Bitcoin’s contingency plan, even though ABC is not endorsed by the company. Bitcoin ABC does not support SegWit, RBF and it removes the 1MB block size limit altogether. It seems to be a mix of positive changes and some dubious decisions.

In a rather surprising turn of events, the Bitcoin ABC team also changed their vision for future block sizes. Right now, they feel 16MB blocks and bigger can be achieved by August 2019. It is unclear whether or not this proposal will gain any traction. The BTCFork subreddit is abuzz with people interested in this project. However, a 16MB Bitcoin block may not necessarily be needed anytime soon. It is good to have alternative solutions available, though.