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Bitcoin-XT: A Design Review

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:45 PM
Justin OConnell
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:45 PM

The new Bitcoin-XT client – which essentially forks the Bitcoin block chain – has been the subject of much controversy in recent weeks in the Bitcoin community. So much so that coverage has leaked into the mainstream media causing wild fluctuations in the Bitcoin price. Some do not consider BXT to be Bitcoin. Instead, they paint it as an alt-coin. 

The debate centers on whether or not certain changes in Bitcoin’s code should be implemented. If such changes are implemented then Bitcoin’s block size – the part of the code that controls the number of transactions which take place – would be increased eight times. Some Bitcoiners are worried this could compromise Bitcoin.

The design for Bitcoin-XT is slick. It is brought to the Bitcoin community by the same group of programmers as the Bitcoin-QT or Core: The Bitcoin Programmers. Some of the main Bitcoin programmers supportive of Bitcoin-XT have been Michael Hearn and Gavin Andresen. Other programmers have opposed the proposed changes. Below you can see the screen while Installing BXT on a mac. The logo and design is clearly much slicker than QT. 

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Installing BXT

 

In many ways, the design is reminiscent of the original Bitcoin core. Any Bitcoiners who have downloaded the original client will find a familiar environment on Bitcoin-XT. Below is the Send environment.

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Sending Payments

Below you can see the send environment with the address book out front.

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The address book in front of the payments screen.

The receiving environment features a form to request payment, as well as the payments history for each wallet.

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The transaction history for a new XT wallet.

Below is what the receiving tab looks like. 

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Requesting payments.

The Overview section of the wallet is essentially the same as Bitcoin-Core.

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The wallet overview

All-in-all, the Bitcoin-XT client appears pretty much the same as the original Bitcoin client, which is currently on version 11. To be sure, in this writer’s opinion, the BXT is indeed much slicker, making it more likely a more marketable solution as a Bitcoin wallet to tech-savvy newcomers who don’t want to rely on a third party. Instead of relying solely on orange, the logo incorporates various shades of blue, as well as yellow in part of the X. The orange, moreover, appears to be a darker shade than “Bitcoin orange.”

What are your thoughts on BXT? 

Featured image from Shutterstock.