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Trezor Allows Bitcoin BIP148/User-Activated Soft Fork (#UASF) Wallets

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:58 PM
P. H. Madore
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:58 PM

By allowing users to switch their primary Trezor node to a UASF/BIP148 node, some users perceive Trezor as being in support of BIP148. Yet, for its part, Trezor has made little in the way of public remarks  regarding BIP148. Instead, they’ve acted a responsible hardware company, and simply done their best to be ready for any future changes.

The company’s innovations include allowing SegWit on the devices, multiple supported cryptocurrencies, and safe storage of bitcoins away from networked devices. By enabling a BIP148 node for Trezor users to connect to, the company is merely giving their users the choice to use only nodes which actively support the User Activated Soft Fork as opposed to any other plans that have been announced moving forward. As Bitcoin celebrity and mining innovator Slush says in his Tweet (which Trezor simply retweeted, instead of writing anything of its own): “the choice is yours.”

Throughout the scaling debate, there have been many people who insist that companies should be taking positions, and many companies have followed suit. While a company taking a technical stance that affects its core business moving forward is to be expected, the sort of political grandstanding and politicization witnessed by Bitcoin companies during the whole affair can only be seen as a serious warning sign for outside money moving in. Trezor is wise to reserve its official statements on the matter but still provide solutions that will adapt to a changing landscape.

Luckily, reaction on the Bitcoin subreddit was tempered. Only one politicized statement  was made, and it really had little to do with the news in question, but rather the existential situation that created the news in the first place.

I’m going to say it. If Bitcoin doesn’t get its shit together, it’s going to get lapped. […] Fist mover advantage doesn’t mean sh*t if you split the empire. It just means the second, third, or fourth place finisher can beat you in the long run. […] Stop making this political and figure out how to work together. […] When litecoin is moving fast, has Segwit, and has no transaction fees, they aren’t the “little brother”, they are the existential threat. […] My hope is that the bitcoin community can work together to avoid a split of the reserve currency of the digital economy.

The comment didn’t gather a lot of objection. The only reply was that one can obviously hold Litecoin and Bitcoin at the same time.

The scaling debate has equated to changing realities for most companies within the Bitcoin sphere, and Trezor is no different. That they continue to maintain their early-mover advantage by keeping users free to use the product as they see fit is a good sign, but hopefully also an expected one.

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