SegWit2x Is Dead, Long Live Bitcoin! Price Hits All-Time High As Hard Fork Canceled

Developers have canceled the Bitcoin SegWit2x hard fork due to it failing to achieve consensus.
Developers have canceled the Bitcoin SegWit2x hard fork due to it failing to achieve consensus.

Bitcoin has reached a new all-time high of $7,888 as participants of the SegWit2x hard fork announce they have “suspended” it.

A circular sent to the mailing list by major proponent Mike Belshe says that it was “clear” the project “had not built sufficient consensus for a clean blocksize upgrade at this time.”

SegWit2x will therefore not activate Nov. 16 as planned, Belshe not naming a possible future date.

The message reads:

“Our goal has always been a smooth upgrade for Bitcoin. Although we strongly believe in the need for a larger blocksize, there is something we believe is even more important: keeping the community together. Unfortunately, it is clear that we have not built sufficient consensus for a clean blocksize 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.”

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Bitcoin prices shot up immediately the news became public, reaching a new all-time high just under $8,000 before steeply reversing, followed by a bounceback to around $7,700.

SegWit2x had received a barrage of opposition from across the Bitcoin industry, with its few supporters likewise coming under pressure to justify the hard fork.

A lack of replay protection - a mechanism preventing coins being accidentally spent on both chains - was a major criticism that made even Nick Szabo come out against SegWit2x today.