It is difficult to find a more honest group in the world of blockchain.
Although the attitude of more mining companies may have given the impression that the sector itself is surrounded by secrets, the trope does not really have any weight. And while it's true that those who manage the computers that secure bitcoin can be evasive, they are often as brash – a trait no doubt reinforced by the fact that they effectively create value from nothing.
But combine this addiction with linguistic and cultural gaps, and you have a recipe for mixed signals. Quite simply, it can be difficult to say where the miners are on the issues of technology – even those in which they play a leading role.
Not to mention that in a rapidly changing industry, the opinions of minors can change just as quickly.
Jiang Zhuoer, founder of the third largest mining pool in the world, BTC.Top, for example, does not hesitate to comment on the upcoming Bitcoin fork Segwit2x, the third this year after Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold.
But Zhuoer, whose pool serves 12.4% of the world's bitcoin miners, already seems to be adopting alternatives personally, even after signing an agreement that might suggest that his preference would be different.
He told CoinDesk:
"To be honest, I do not care about bitcoin now, bitcoin cash is bitcoin, I earn by bitcoin mining, [selling it] and buying bitcoin money.We exploit for the most profit and buy bitcoin money. "
Such statements may send contradictory signals. After all, many of the network's code proposals actually appeal to minors (an important issue for network node operators) to initiate contentious changes to protocol rules. And although this practice has been criticized, it still persists.
Indeed, one of the biggest outstanding issues regarding the upcoming launch of BitCoin, Segwit2x, is how many miners will actually agree to run the software, and if they do it unilaterally, they will devote all their power to the cause.
To date, the statistics are only relative.
While most miners who have signed the agreement write the phrase "NYA" in the blocks that they produce, this is not binding. In addition, because of the semantics of the operation of mining, it remains to be seen if a sufficient amount of the network will move to change the rules of Bitcoin to eliminate the possibility of creating another cryptocurrency.
The problem of the swimming pool
Personal opinion aside, Zhuoer sells software equivalent to software subscriptions – the BTC.Top pool that coordinates the world's miners in a unit where the rewards collected by any participant are evenly distributed.
Thus, while he may have certain opinions, Zhuoer must also consider the users, a fact that he recognizes.
It notes, for example, BTC.Top's mining, the company plans to allow customers to "choose to operate any part" or to automatically switch from one to another. one chain of blocks to another, even after Segwit2x.
So, while his mind is invented, it is less clear about whether he believes that a blockchain split is likely, or that his opinion is important on the outcome.
"I do not know, we should ask Bitcoin users," he said via WeChat. "They decide the result."
Haipo Yang, CEO of ViaBTC, the fourth largest mining power pool, agreed, indicating that his pool will only offer the extraction of bitcoins on the original bitcoin chain.
"We have not received the request from the user to run 2x If 2x survives and users request it, we will support both, let users have the choice", a- he told CoinDesk via WeChat
If Zhuoer's and Yang's statements are an indication, then it may not be best to see the figures on how much hash power will support Segwit2x in the stone.
The F2Pool bitcoin mining pool also broke the Segwit2x record. His operator Wang Chun told CoinDesk in August that he no longer supported the New York deal. However, at the time of going to press, F2Pool continues to "mark" the change of its blocks.
As for Zhuoer's operation, Chun operates a pool and it is unclear whether his miners will have the choice to run a version of the Bitcoin software of their choice.
Chun did not respond to requests for comment.
Although there is a precedent for the slow adoption of new software. In the bitcoin money deployment, the mining pools slowly opened up to the new software, ViaBTC launching the option first and Bitmain's BTC.Top and AntPool follow shortly thereafter.
The new statements suggest that a similar and offbeat approach could be advanced.
Objectors of Conscience
But, as stated in our explanator, the difference here is that bitcoin cash wanted to leave the bitcoin blockchain behind, while Segwit2x is trying to make its code the "bitcoin code".
As such, a hectic deployment could have invisible and possibly dangerous implications, creating a period when there are two chains, even if one can prevail.
But not everyone agrees that a version is likely.
Jan Capek, CEO of Slush Pool's fifth largest mining pool, said it would align with Bitcoin Core developers in their rejection of Segwit2x software.
According to him, the introduction of Segwit2x software will definitely "lead to the creation of two bitcoins" – one of which works on a blockchain with the current rules of bitcoin, and the other on the rules proposed by the followers of Segwit2x.
Despite the fact that companies support the proposal, he considers that Segwit2x is the latest in a trend that should lead to lower yields.
"I would expect every new fork to have a smaller impact than the previous one," he said.
It is also remarkable that small miners seem more inclined to believe that a split is more likely. Li Ang, who operates 1 petahash-worth mining equipment for a smaller mining basin called Canoe Pool, has called it "an event with a great possibility".
Similarly, developer litecoin 'PZ', an organizer of a meeting that led litecoin miners to pass a technology update in April, said Segwit2x "will create a new currency. "
Finally, Jack Liao, the CEO of Lightning ASIC, the company behind the bitcoin gold fork, also predicted that "four chains" with four unique cryptocurrencies will likely survive November.
Generic card
Still, the wildcard seems to be whether the bitcoin cash has actually changed perception, because the blockchain has a block size of 8 MB, considerably higher than the 2 MB block size that Segwit2x will present.
With this in mind, it is not just Zuoer who noted that he prefers Bitcoin cash to Segwit2x. Roger Ver, CEO of Bitcoin.com, an educational site that offers a mining pool, said that even though he's "very optimistic" in the short term, he's "even more optimistic" about long-term bitcoin cash .
Inked in May, the New York Agreement predates the creation of cash bitcoin and therefore does not seem to take into account this cryptocurrency. But industry observers believe that the creation of bitcoin cash protocol and the investments that have been made there long-term strategies shifted to minors.
Citing the generic terms that best suit Bitcoin power games, Steven Mosher, sales and marketing manager at Canaan, believes that miners will support Segwit2x in the long run to boost investment in Bitcoin. cash. Indeed, Mosher, whose company sells chips to miners, said his customers preferred bitcoin, and he noted that he saw them participating in the construction of what he called a "long-term infrastructure game".
Overall, he sees the Segwit2x fork as part of some behind-the-scenes power jocks that will continue to pit developers against businesses, perhaps in the personal interest that involves the nature of the distributed Bitcoin system.
He concluded:
"In the mining world, they believe that value follows hashrate: more chains equals more material."
Image divided by Bitcoin via Shutterstock
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