In a surprising, yet seemingly welcome move, the organizers of the next hard fork in Bitcoin’s lifespan have suddenly decided to suspend their plans to start increasing the block size of the cryptocurrency. The plan was originally scheduled to commence around November 16th.
In an email, Mike Belshe, the CEO and co-founder of bitcoin wallet software provider BitGo, explained the decision to not move forward. “Unfortunately, it is clear that we have not built sufficient consensus for a clean block size upgrade at this time. Continuing on the current path could divide the community and be a setback to Bitcoin’s growth. This was never the goal of Segwit2x.”
Segwit2x hardfork has been called off! Common sense prevails. Let’s now work together towards scaling safely. We may need something like a 2x hardfork in the future, but let’s do it when there’s consensus and not rushed. 🚀
(Removing my NO2X tag now.) 😀 https://t.co/FuaUy2Kzex
— Charlie Lee (@SatoshiLite) November 8, 2017
CoinDesk is reporting that the general consensus is an echoing sigh of relief throughout the Twittersphere. There have been exclamations of “Common sense prevails,” “Bitcoin wins,” and “I am glad it is over.” Segwit2x developer Jean-Pierre Rupp stated, “I guess I can now pay more attention to more fruitful technical pursuits than following the news and fighting trolls online.”
The price of Bitcoin has been volatile this week, with more new records followed by significant dips and renewed rallying. At the time of writing, prices are showing a slight dip, sitting at $7,421.