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Bitwala Refuses to Follow SegWit2x Fork without Core Dev Support

Last Updated May 16, 2023 8:41 AM
Josiah Wilmoth
Last Updated May 16, 2023 8:41 AM

Blockchain banking and payment platform Bitwala has rescinded its support for the New York Agreement and says it will not “fork away” from the Bitcoin Core-backed blockchain if a blockchain split occurs in November.

Bitwala Rescinds NYA Support

In a blog post meant to clarify its stance on SegWit2x, the Berlin-based company stated that as an early signatory to the New York Agreement they did not realize Bitcoin Core would oppose it so vociferously.

We would like to honor the agreement that we subscribed to (as one of the first movers, unbeknownst to the fact that most developers would not enter the agreement). We also, however, are a service company that has and will always follow what our customers use and want to use.

‘Bitcoin’ Is the Version Supported by Core

SegWit2x supporters and opponents have become entrenched in their positions, and they are unlikely to reach a compromise before the SegWit2x hard fork in November. Consequently, it is probable that the bitcoin blockchain will split into two versions: the original, Core-supported chain and the chain created by the implementation of btc1. Unlike the bitcoin cash hard fork on August 1, both chains will claim to be the “real bitcoin.”

Acknowledging the likelihood of a chain split, Bitwala clarified that they consider the chain backed by the current Core development team to be “bitcoin” and that they will not fork away from this chain as long as Core opposes it. 

We will not actively fork away from what we view as “bitcoin”, which is the chain that is supported by the current Core dev team.

This is a very different stance from U.S.-based BitPay, which was recently accused of using deceptive tactics to convince users to download a SegWit2x node.

However, Bitwala urged developers to find a way to address the concerns of other NYA signatories and stated that they would consider SegWit2x the “de-facto Bitcoin” if the Core developers change their minds and decide to adopt the scaling proposal.

Should the Bitcoin developers come to the conclusion to follow the SegWit2x agreement, that chain will be considered the de-facto Bitcoin by Bitwala.

Yours Moves ‘Full On-Chain’ to Bitcoin Cash

Bitwala was not the only NYA signatory to rescind support this week. Ryan X. Charles, CEO of Yours, announced that the platform was moving to the bitcoin cash blockchain for its beta launch.

https://twitter.com/ryanxcharles/status/900083785726910465 

Yours had recently decided to launch on litecoin due to bitcoin’s increasingly-excessive fees (which would render micropayments on the platform impractical), but they ultimately chose to move to bitcoin cash since Charles says it has a “greater chance [than bitcoin] to achieve the vision I signed up for.”

Featured image from Shutterstock.