SegWit by September? Bitcoin’s Community Reaches Agreement on Scaling – Will it Hold?

Deadlock Broken!

To everyone’s surprise, a last-minute agreement has supposedly been reached between movers and shakers in the Bitcoin community. This new development has been received with (mostly) optimism and hope, with the price rallying in reaction to the possible reality of Bitcoin overcoming this problem.

According to various news outlets online at the Consensus conference in New York, the agreement consists of big names like Roger Ver (Bitcoin.com), Jihan Wu (Bitmain), Barry Silbert (Digital Currency Group), and many other influential names and Bitcoin-based companies.

SegWit by September? What Does it Mean Long-Term?

The terms of the agreement are allegedly as follows: SegWit activation will be enabled by September 2017, followed by a hard fork that will enable the block size limit to raise from the bloated 1MB to 2MB.

It’s a compromise that incorporates the best of both solutions to scaling that many have suggested in the past.

Of course, SegWit needs the overall majority of miners to signal for its activation, and there will eventually be another occasion where Bitcoin’s block size will need to be extended again, but like we saw with Litecoin, this may occur suddenly. If this agreement is true and manages to stay intact, then it would put years of debating to rest, as Bitcoin and its economy can move forward and work on more ambitious projects, such as Smart Applications and worldwide practical uses.

The reality of Bitcoin no longer being congested and having faster transactions would put many of the alternative cryptocurrencies in a tight spot. Many consumers are using coins such as Dash, Litecoin, and Ethereum as a hedge against Bitcoin’s uncertain future. With Bitcoin being just as fast and transaction fees not being so high, it may give people the incentive to embrace Bitcoin once more.

Are There Already Cracks in the Agreement?

In the cryptocurrency industry, the only guarantee is that there are no guarantees! There are already rumours of friction regarding this new agreement…

The problem this time seems to be whether to hard fork before or after SegWit is activated, while others have added critism to the agreement. There are also talks of a User-Activated Soft Fork (UASF), where the soft fork activates on a specific date regardless.

Bitcoin celebrity Roger Ver adds his opinion to the proposed agreement via Reddit, whilst receiving critism from fellow Reddit members.

SegWit by September? Bitcoin’s Community Reaches Agreement on Scaling – Will it Hold?

The agreement made at the Consensus conference is a huge step forward for Bitcoin overall. If criticism and more bad news spreads, we could see a similar retraction in Bitcoin’s price and investor confidence, as well as further capital flowing into the altcoin market as a hedge against Bitcoin’s uncertain future.