Canada’s Bitcoin ecosystem has become the latest major sector of the industry to signal its rejection of a potential Bitcoin hard fork.
Canada Group: Hard Fork Would ‘Create Irreparable Damage’
In a letter signed by a raft of businesses and services, from exchanges to hardware manufacturers, the idea of a contentious hard fork is severely criticized.
An extract reads:
We strongly believe that a hard-fork, as actively considered by Bitcoin Unlimited or Bitcoin Classic, would cause massive disruption in our ability to onboard new Bitcoin users and would create irreparable damage to Bitcoin and to our businesses. We unequivocally oppose the Bitcoin Unlimited network split proposal.
The Canadian participants, led in the letter by Bitcoin Embassy director Francis Pouliot, join an increasing number of participants worldwide ready to consider Bitcoin Unlimited as an altcoin or new asset.
Two weeks ago saw a similar joint letter from some of bitcoin’s best-known exchanges stating BU’s chain would be considered a new coin altogether, rather than the Bitcoin blockchain.
Two exchanges, Bitfinex and HitBTC, have sought to capitalize on speculation about the results, offering futures trading for both chains even while a hard fork is not guaranteed and BU’s asset does not yet exist.
“Under no circumstance will the current Bitcoin Unlimited proposal be considered by the undersigned to be the original Bitcoin cryptocurrency as described in the Satoshi whitepaper and as currently used under the denomination “Bitcoin” in our businesses,” the Canadian group reiterates.
The letter promises to go further, promising no listing of BTU as an “alternative currency” and no offers of goods or services priced in the currency.
‘We’re A Community’
A contrasting perspective came Tuesday in the form of Canadian knowledge channel BTC Sessions.
In an episode explaining the scaling debate, the show’s host signaled a considerably more consolidated approach, noting the “divisive” nature of much of the community was ultimately detrimental.
“We’re a community; we all got into this because we were sick of shit from banks, we were sick of being told what we could do with our money […] people should realize that we’re still united in that view,” he said.
The extent of how strongly the Canadian signatories are involved in this political aspect of the scaling issue meanwhile is less clear.
Explanations come exclusively from Pouliot himself on behalf of all concerned, while a lack of supporting evidence or announcements from the businesses themselves is noticeable.
If you are a Bitcoin company or group from Canada, contact me at [email protected] to challenge claim Canada is united for Segwit.
— Francis Pouliot (@francispouliot_) March 28, 2017
On Twitter, Pouliot appealed to local businesses seemingly in an opt-out fashion, requesting anyone not on board with Segregated Witness support to contact him.
What do you think about the Canadian signed letter rejecting a hard fork? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of quebecoislibre.org