Investment media have begun warning of a “fairly dramatic dip in Bitcoin's value” should a hard fork occur.
In a piece to readers on Monday, Wealth Daily warns that Bitcoin holders stand to lose without protection.
“Some people are of the opinion that a Bitcoin fork won't happen. But, from a web development angle, it seems inevitable,” it reports.
Taking the events surrounding Ethereum’s fork as a blueprint, the publication perpetuates popular perceptions among the Bitcoin community that a hard fork would cause significant upheaval, as well as a volatility split between two “versions” of Bitcoin.
“There will now be two tokens, and one will rise in value in the eyes of investors (just like Ethereum over Ethereum Classic),” it continues.
The tone is indicative of the general gloom descending over markets amid a quick yet still relatively shallow downturn in Bitcoin’s fortunes.
By contrast, Ethereum has fallen much more within the same timeframe, while Bitcoin inches closer to a milestone decision to activate SegWit technology for its network.
“...Even if a fork doesn't happen, it's important to be prepared,” Wealth Daily adds.
“Whether it's a soft fork or a hard fork, Bitcoin will likely lose value.”
When Bitcoin prices were still booming last month, mainstream media outlets were by contrast quick to celebrate a new dawn.
Bitcoin Scaling: SegWit Passes Emergent Consensus At Last
Bitcoin miners are now signaling more commonly than ever for Segregated Witness than Emergent Consensus.
For the first time, SegWit miner support inched past Emergent Consensus, another name for Bitcoin Unlimited, to take 41.6 percent support Tuesday.
The gap has now increased slightly to 42 percent for SegWit versus 41.5 percent for Emergent Consensus according to data from Coin Dance.
Overall, the percentage of support for SegWit2x code, which would all but guarantee SegWit activation in the near future, stands at 85 percent.
Regarding blocks mined in the past 24 hours, each total is correspondingly slightly higher: 43.8 percent Emergent Consensus, 45.1 percent SegWit and 87.5 percent overall SegWit2x signaling.
The major Bitcoin scaling options have meanwhile continued their tumultuous journey to acceptance or rejection in the weeks following the Consensus conference in New York last month.
A group of Chinese miners known as the China Bitcoin Roundtable recently met in Chengdu to formalize their cooperation to bring about SegWit and end the debacle.
As a nod to the difficulty seen in bringing about any form of consensus on the issue, a typo in the summary of the meeting contained an activation date of June 31, a date which does not exist.