Hello crypto steemit,in the aftermath of Aug 1 tug of war debacle of hard fork with the emergence of bitcoin cash (BCH) a coup plot by the minority miners,the cynosure of all eyes will now focus on August 22,when a full activation of SEGWIT will come to play.
Bitcoin users before now breath a sigh of relieve after the network has successfully locked-in SegWit activation.The software upgrade had caused heated debate among developers cum miners and stakeholders,but its positivity outweighs the challenge afterall.We have got two-week waiting period before it effectively activates. The bigger question is what will be next for the Bitcoin network. Many speculators expect a massive price surge,which we are already experiencing. As for where bitcoin can go from here, estimates range from $5,000 to $100,000.
After the storm comes a calm,we now have a consensus,a major booster to the bitcoin network was the successful locking in of SegWit activation – a giant step in the right direction. All of the blocks mined during this previous activation method signaled SegWit support. That is rather uncommon in the Bitcoin world, to say the least. However, this is still only the first step toward achieving the goal we have been waiting for.
Miners know they can still switch and experiment to other probable solutions they desire within this 2 weeks grace time frame,and once locked in,there is no turning back on Segregated Witness any longer.. A lot can happen in those two weeks, especially when considering how SegWit2x is still a “threat”. More specifically, the hard fork to up the block size to 2MB could spawn a third Bitcoin blockchain which is capable of surviving on its own. The second blockchain is Bitcoin Cash, which disregarded SegWit altogether and simply went for a straight block size increase to 8MB. Additionally, some miners still need to upgrade their software before August 22. Interesting to see the bitcoin network network receive a scaling solution which can provide many different new features.
New features ranging from transaction malleability,reducing unspent transaction output growth and signing of input values, among other things. Moreover, Segregated Witness paves the way for the Lightning Network, among other tools. Sidechains and smart contracts through Rootstock are some other features to look forward to as well. There will be a slew of new features and innovation over the coming months and years. Bitcoin five years from now will look very different from what we know today.
Finally the stage is set for a stiff competition between SegWit vs Bitcoin Cash. A moderate block size increase versus an eightfold increase will yield some intriguing competition. For now, mining Bitcoin is still more profitable than BCH, but the margin is growing smaller every day. A few days ago, mining BTC was 270% more profitable. Right now, that margin is ‘just” 37%. It is evident some miners will try to play both sides and maximize their earnings. Competition is heating up in Bitcoin, that much is evident. An interesting and exciting future awaits us all.
Looking forward to see the new bitcoin core client released, which will effectively cut off SegWit2x clients from the network altogether. It is evident the Core developers want nothing to do with this 2MB hard fork whatsoever. At that time, users and miners will need to side with either Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash, as pursuing their own blockchain would be less than ideal, to say the least.
Your comments and suggestions are welcome,as we forge ahead in this current digital coin vista,Upvote,and resteem to reach a greater audience
