The New York agreement, which supposedly solved the problem with the scalability of bitcoin, could lead to the creation of the third Bitcoin.
The agreement led to the appearance of the SegWit2x plan, a call for the immediate implementation of Segregated Witness and the consent to hardfork in November, during which the block of bitcoins will double.
The problem is that SegWit2x is a compromise. Like all compromises, neither side gets what it wants to the fullest.
Unusual compromise
However, SegWit2x can not be considered an ordinary compromise. One side must make a concession by activating Segregated Witness. They will have to believe that the other side, the supporters of SegWit, will fulfill their promises to increase the block size.
However, having received the Segregated Witness implementation, the SegWit camp can easily abandon the promise to increase the block size.
If this happens, the miners who support large blocks, in any case, can launch a hard disk. This can lead to the appearance of BTC-SegWit (what we have for today), Bitcoin Cash, launched on August 1 with a small group of miners, and BTC-SegWit2x.
Such a split would actually be more devastating than a fork with Bitcoin Cash, as it will have the support of a large number of miners. It is also quite likely that some miners will agree with the fork, they promised it when signing the agreement.
Jameson Lopp, a software engineer at BitGo, wrote today on Twitter:
'Now that we have 2 fork of bitcoin thanks to Bcash, do we still want SegWit2X? Because it will turn out 3 Bitcoin-plugs ... '
Back to the Middle Ages
The modern situation with bitcoin is reminiscent of the Middle Ages, when the Catholic Church also split because of the legitimacy of the pope.
Most of Europe believed that the Pope, supported by the French cardinals, was legal, and the rest of Europe believed that the legitimate heir to the throne of St. Peter was the Italian pope.
In an attempt to resolve the so-called 'Western schism' and reunite the church, theologians throughout Europe called for a council that was held in Pisa. The Council of Pisa ordered both popes to abdicate and elected a new pope.
Unfortunately, neither the French nor the Italian pope resigned, as a result of which the Catholic Church had three applicants for the papacy. The split was not resolved for 39 years, until the Holy Roman Emperor intervened, forcing to comply with the resolution.
Mark Twain said that history does not repeat itself, but it's just rhyme.
Can the future of bitcoin repeat the medieval religious schism? If so, how will the crisis be resolved?
Source: author