Unknown entity promises to resurrect dead SegWit2X fork

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The fight to initiate the November hard fork isn’t over yet for one group, which has vowed to continue signalling for SegWit2X even though the project’s main backers have already cancelled the split event.

On Wednesday, supporters of the SegWit2X project called off the plans for the contentious hard fork event due to lack of support from the community. In a post, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe acknowledged that pursuing the project would only “divide the community” further and would only “be a setback to Bitcoin’s growth.”

However, a group called BitPico responded to Wednesday’s announcement that it will carry out the hard fork event “regardless” of the lack of support, because “everything is set in motion.” The previously unknown entity claimed to be composed of miners that hold 30 percent of the network’s hash rate.

“Backing down the difficulty right now is a strategy,” the group wrote from an iCloud address. “Wonder why 30 percent network hash-rate disappeared? It’s ours; the miners that will continue what is set in motion… A handful of humans cannot stop what they have no control over.”

Rather than comforting the community, BitPico’s message raised suspicions that it could be a hoax. In response to entrepreneur Tuur Demeester’s question if “anyone know who this is,” Twitter user IamNomad did a basic Google search, which showed the group “didn’t exist before September of 2017,” while user @1nacaleon1 claimed BitPico is “the group of people who invested on SegWit2X features.”

Regardless if whether BitPico will push through with their plan, the question remains: What will happen if 30 percent of the BTC network decided to go ahead with SegWit2X?

We cannot discount that there will be a few people, perhaps some of the developers, will refuse to give up. After all, they have already invested a lot of time and energy on the project. In this scenario, that group could end up splitting 30 percent hash from the SegWit1X chain.

This means that the SegWit1X chain gets 70 percent of the BTC hash, and the SegWit2X chain will die a slow death. If this happens, the 30 percent hash will eventually move to Bitcoin (BCH), and BCH will end up being the chain with the most hash.

SegWit2X was initially mediated as the New York Agreement, a compromise between the warring camps of the scaling debate. Instead of building a consensus, however, the project only led to the community becoming even more divided—leaving behind an underpowered SegWit chain and BCH even closer to winning.