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As Bitcoin Hard Forks Go, ‘SegWit2x’ Launches With Little Support

Last Updated March 4, 2021 5:03 PM
Josiah Wilmoth
Last Updated March 4, 2021 5:03 PM

The “SegWit2x” hard fork activated on Thursday at Bitcoin block 501451, but so far it has struggled to gain support from both users and cryptocurrency services.

‘SegWit2x’ Hard Fork Activates

Leading up to the fork, SegWit2x (B2X) futures surged in value, peaking above $1,200 on Dec. 27. This was likely because, due to the naming of the fork, many people mistakenly believed that it was a relaunch of the Jeff Garzik-led project that had failed to activate in November. However, despite what a SegWit2x spokesperson told CCN.com in an email, this fork should not be considered a continuation of the former protocol upgrade.

segwit2x
Source: CoinMarketCap

As CCN.com detailed in an earlier piece covering the fork, B2X has a different development team — with questionable qualifications — as well as significantly-altered protocol specifications, which include changing the hashing and difficulty adjustment algorithms, blocktime, and address structure. Moreover, the B2X fork actually increases the blocksize to 4MB, not the 2MB suggested in the proposal’s name and advocated by the original SegWit2x backers.

Presumably because traders began to realize this, B2X plunged on Dec. 28. and is currently trading at just $323. Trading volume has also been incredibly thin during B2X’s first full day on exchanges, and the coin’s 24-hour volume is just $5.3 million.

segwit2x
Source: CoinMarketCap

Cryptocurrency Services Shun B2X

This lack of launch-day support from exchanges is indicative of a larger that SegWit2x faces — assuming it is not an outright scam — as it seeks to establish itself as a sustainable cryptocurrency.

The network does not appear to have much support from mining pools, and the B2X team has been encouraging  miners to use the developer-created pool.

Moreover, Freewallet is the only noteworthy wallet service to confirm  that it will support B2X. Trezor, one of the most popular hardware wallet manufacturers, has said it will not support the fork as it appears to be a “premined scam ,” pointing to the fact that the developers are seizing the coins airdropped to wallets belonging to Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

If bitcoin holders do intend to interact with the forked blockchain, they should do so with the utmost caution and avoid entering importing their private keys into a B2X wallet until they have moved their entire BTC balance to a new address.

Write to Josiah Wilmoth at josiah.wilmoth(at)CCN.com.

Featured image from Shutterstock.