Dysfunction has consequences. So does infighting between teams, as well as a general lack of interest and excitement about building on top of a technology protocol. The BCH network has begun to pay the price for its decision to abandon Satoshi’s vision of Bitcoin, and that price looks poised to derail its stated plans to become a global digital cash system.
Fresh off the disastrous attempts by Bitcoin ABC devs to impose a tax on BCH miners comes news that the BCH community may be struggling to retain key engineering talent.
The latest developer to call it quits within the BCH community is Tyler Smith. Tyler is joining the AVA project to help build out a global-scale consensus system using Avalanche. He left the BCH project because of a lack of support from those within the BCH community to fund protocol development.
In an interview given to another outlet, Tyler explained that, “Over the past 2.5 years, the community has shown very little interest in funding development compared to BCH’s competitors, and the development that has happened has been consistently inefficient and filled with unnecessary drama. As a result, the competitors are improving in leaps and bounds while the BCH community continues to stall itself with infighting. It’s not just a matter of funding; it’s about a culture that has no unified focus or desire for making the large, necessary improvements happen.”
This sort of disorganization and strife is familiar to those who follow the project. It has been a constant undercurrent within BCH dating back to its decision to fork away from Satoshi’s version of Bitcoin (BSV). Earlier this month, CoinGeek reported on a developer going by the moniker “Freetrader” was removed without notice or explanation as a contributor to the code repository “bitcoincashorg” on GitHub. Freetrader was one of the original founders of ABC, but he objected to the mining tax proposal.
Before that, Bitcoin ABC co-developer Antony Zegers caused a mini uproar with his fellow developers when he falsely claimed that “None of you reviewed or helped out writing any of the specs for the last few upgrades.” In 2019, an internal struggle spilled over into the public’s sphere after Zegers and Amaury Séchet abruptly severed ties with the Bitcoin Unlimited team right before a network upgrade.
The consequence of all of this for the BCH community is the network’s protocols have fallen behind its industry peers. When it comes to scaling, utility, and stability, the BCH blockchain cannot compete with Bitcoin SV’s network. The BSV community is actively seeking to lure app developers and enterprises to build on top of its blockchain. As a result, you see greater enthusiasm, a growing app developer ecosystem, and a higher probability for enterprise adoption for those building on top of the Bitcoin SV ledger.
As ABC devs continue to engage hostilely with its community and fall further behind on its technical roadmap, BCH miners will take notice. Meanwhile, Bitcoin SV protocols and big blocks will become the staple for enterprises looking to incorporate blockchain into their infrastructure. The BSV adoption trend will inevitably continue leading to miners also starting to abandon the BCH network to process transactions on the only public blockchain that appropriately scales. For anyone investing effort or money into the BCH ecosystem, it’s time to think of getting out now before it’s too late.
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