Over the past few weeks, a fog of uncertainty over bitcoin’s direction has forced a number of crypto projects to grind to a halt. Everything from blockchain development to token generation events has been on ice while the machinations surrounding the Segwit2X hard fork played out. Following yesterday’s news that the proposal had been abandoned, developers have wasted no time in getting back to business.
Bitcoin: Open for Business Once More
Within minutes of news breaking that Segwit2X had been kicked into the long grass, likely never to return, developers were swift to launch into projects that had been temporarily on hiatus. Digibyte and Radium were among a host of teams pressing ahead with development plans. While there was nothing stopping such projects from proceeding, as the hard fork penciled in for block 494,784 loomed closer, all eyes were fixed on more immediate concerns.
It was the same story in the ICO world, with blockchain companies such as Remme deferring their November token sale to account for Segwit2X. With many token sales accepting funds in bitcoin as well as ether, what happens to bitcoin has repercussions for the entire crypto economy.
Crisis Averted
In the run-up to the birth of bitcoin cash, back in August, bitcoin holders battened down the hatches and held on tightly to their coins. This was largely in expectation of receiving free BCH, but there were also practical reasons why it would have been unwise to send bitcoin on the verge of a chain split.
Moments after the plug was pulled on Segwit2X on November 8th, a string of announcements indicated that developers are getting back to doing what they do best: building a better decentralized future instead of squabbling over block sizes. Brian Hoffman, project lead at Openbazaar, expressed relief at the averted fork, tweeting:
Going to sleep tonight with a lot of open questions answered but now the hard part starts
It would be stretching the truth to say that the acrimony caused by the Segwit debacle has entirely subsided, with Ciphrex CTO Eric Lombrozo and pro-B2Xer Erik Voorhees of Shapeshift exchanging pleasantries as the fallout from the aborted split rumbles on. In the aftermath of yesterday’s Segwit2X announcement, the wave of relief that swept through the bitcoin community was palpable.
