Bitcoin forks upcoming December 2017 – January 2018
What is in a bitcoin ‘fork’? I have noticed some newcomers to the cryptocurrency scene are confused by ‘forks’.
A fork occurs when a blockchain splits into two blockchains, the new blockchain with different technological parameters.
Bitcoin was originally created as a currency and now also acts as a store of value. In time, a platform was created based off bitcoin called ethereum. Ethereum has incorporated the ability to generate contracts between individual parties and creates the possibility to decentralise many internet services. To crowdfund building the Ethereum platform, its founder Vitalik Buterin created a new digital currency called Ether. Nowadays, 'ethereum' and 'ether' are commonly both used to refer to the digital currency.
Most of the current alternative 'alt' coin related cryptocurrencies are related to projects built on one of these two blockchains. For example, verge, a privacy coin sits on top of bitcoin, whereas substratum, a decentralised hosting platform, sits on top of ethereum.
Sometimes blockchains can ‘fork’ that means they sub-divide into two blockchains by creating a second blockchain with some altered technical parameters that are advantageous or distinct in some way. Both bitcoin and ethereum have forked. Bitcoin’s forks are numerous and have been steeped in politics and controversy. And here’s a rundown of forks that have occured and forks that are planned:
BITCOIN CASH (BCC or BCH) - already forked
The first fork that I am aware of was designed to reduce ‘block’ size and speed up the processing of transactions. Currently bitcoin transactions can take from minutes to days due to a congested network as the currency gains popularity. Bitcoin cash aimed to speed this up however has drawbacks. Not least the latest accusations of insider trading by bitcoin cash’s team. As a popular exchange added the ability to purchase bitcoin cash directly with fiat money, the price of bitcoin cash surged, whilst the price of bitcoin crashed. This has been a see-saw effect and extreme market volatility.
The transaction speed however is reportedly faster than bitcoins, and faster even than ethereum network which got clogged by CryptoKitties: Why not collect and breed some Crypto Cats of your own?
BITCOIN GOLD (BTG) - already forked
This was the second widely publicised fork and it was controversial as it did not incorporate relay protection when it was first deployed. Most major exchanges supported it but ‘froze’ the ability to trade until relay protection was added. Relay protection is an important mechanism to avoid spending bitcoin simultaneously with your bitcoin gold purchases.
The ideals behind bitcoin gold were to decentralise the mining of the coins, away from the bitcoin mining factories therefore distributing the ‘wealth’ or ability for miners to earn compensation for their efforts. However, bitcoin gold does not seem to have caught on yet. This was partly due to the developers’ decision to restrict mining to themselves and therefore keep the rewards for sometime after the fork. However, this fork may gain popularity in the future.
BITCOIN DIAMOND (BTD) - already forked
This fork has already occurred. Hailed a scam by some, Bitcoin Diamond’s official website explains it aims to solve cost of transactions and privacy issues inherent with bitcoin. It tackles privacy by encrypting the amount of BTD in the users wallet.
BITCOINX (BCX) - already forked
This fork has already occured and some exchanges like Bittrex are supporting it. It offers smart contract capability on top of the bitcoin blockchain for faster payments processing. With ‘zero knowledge’ transactions user privacy is guaranteed and cross-chain technology will enable data transfer across chains.
SUPER BITCOIN (SBTC) - already forked
This fork has already occurred and while no coins have been released, futures are reportedly trading. It is an ‘experiment’ in scalability, privacy and bigger block size by implementing smart contracts, zero knowledge and lightening network. Their aim is to ‘make bitcoin great again’ and re-establish the dominance of bitcoin following loss of marketshare to ethereum and zcash.
BITCOIN SILVER (BTS) and BITCOIN URANIUM (BUM) - December
With a similar tag lines to ‘Bitcoin Platinum’, Bitcoin Silver and Bitcoin Uranium aims to ‘make bitcoin decentralised again’. Well, there is not too much information on this proposed fork at the moment, except to say they are both planned for ‘December’. Note: I think Bitcoin Uranium is a joke to be honest.. but do your own research ;).
BITCOIN PLATINUM - December 23
The bitcoin platinum fork is planned for December 23rd. The website says it is ‘reasonable’, ‘secure’ and no one owns it so it is ‘fully accessible‘ by all. Relay protection is enabled but with Segwit2 alarm bells are ringing. You can see for yourself and make up your own mind but this isn’t one I’ll be waiting up for.
LIGHTENING BITCOIN - December 23
Also planned around December 23rd is ‘Lightening Bitcoin’. It is aiming to make transactions ‘as fast as lightening’ and is also offering a DPoS algorithm designed to introduce consensus decision making. This should offer environmental benefits over the PoW bitcoin blockchains and they have some exchanges and wallets supporting them.
BITCOIN GOD - December 25
Bitcoin God is a fork planned for December 25th. It aims to be a decentralised peer to peer transaction system and the first charitable bitcoin platform. All tokens will be airdropped to existing bitcoin holders, and to charitable organisations. It aims to increase efficiency by being the first blockchain to implement lightening and it will enable each transaction to be stored clearly in a separate ledger. People will be easily able to identify who they want to help via a social network, and the aim is to fill the world with love!
It will also incorporate smart contracts, on the bitcoin blockchain allowing apps to be built on top of the blockchain. And to round off all the ‘share the love’ features it is Proof of Stake (PoS) which requires less electricity than Proof of Work protocols and so it’s better for the environment too. It lists numerous reputable wallets and exchanges in support of the project.
BITCOIN CASH PLUS - January 2nd
This offers the same as Bitcoin Cash but with some amendments such as a new SigHash type that provides replay protection’. There is not too much information on Bitcoin Cash Plus’s website right now about who is supporting them, however check back nearer the date.
BITCOIN UNITED (BTU) - January 3rd
This is a fork to look out for and by it’s countdown timer is scheduled for 12 days from now, which brings us to 3rd January 2018. However, the countdown is not a fixed date timer, it is approximated from the block mining rate, which could change. It is an important fork as it will implement the lightening network and Segwit, aiming for faster transaction times.