Bitcoin 2(BTC2)

Multiple attendees at Binance Blockchain Week in Istanbul believe BTC could rise to new peaks in 2024 prompted by bullish factors such as the next halving.

Stellar Lumens ($XLM) has made a significant leap over the past day, posting a price increase of 15%. This considerable increase comes amid a minor rally in the crypto market as investors begin to become optimistic once more. At the same time, BTC20 ($BTC20), with its pioneering stake-to-earn model, is also attracting investor attention and […]

It’s been a difficult week for Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, with both coins seeing substantial price drops. $BTC’s value is now 8% below the high of July 13, while $BCH’s price has sunk 28% over the past month. However, the good news for crypto investors is that several new altcoins remain bullish – with BTC20 […]

The brand-new staking cryptocurrency BTC20 ($BTC20) has generated significant buzz in the past week, raising over $1.7 million through its presale phase. BTC20 ($BTC20)’s presale has been an instant hit because it allows investors to buy tokens at the symbolic price of $1 – an homage to the original Bitcoin’s early days. With the momentum […]

Solana ($SOL) has seen its price plummet by 24% in the past ten days as crypto traders have become increasingly bearish on the token’s prospects. The massive sell-off of $SOL has halted the token’s prolonged uptrend that began in mid-June. As such, traders appear to be shifting their focus to BTC20 ($BTC20) – a brand-new […]

The meme coin market frenzy shows no signs of slowing, meaning opportunities for huge gains are always around the corner. One recent example is $BITCOIN, a new meme coin that has generated huge gains for early investors. As traders revel in the success of $BITCOIN, a new player called BTC20 has entered the market, generating […]

Cryptocurrencies are showing remarkable resilience amidst a turbulent economic environment, evidenced by their decoupling from traditional asset classes. Dan Morehead, CEO of Pantera Capital, predicts this dynamic will allow major cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum to continue rallying over the medium term. Although these two cryptos remain the most talked-about in the space, investors are […]

In an ambitious move, the new crypto project BTC20 ($BTC20) has embarked on its token presale, aiming to recreate the early days of Bitcoin. Hosted on the Ethereum blockchain, BTC20 ($BTC20) will boast a unique stake-to-earn setup that provides passive income potential for all token holders. Not only that, but BTC20’s green approach and potential […]

What do thought leaders at the world’s largest Bitcoin conferences make of Bitcoin in 2023? This week’s Decentralize with Cointelegraph podcast focuses on Bitcoin 2023 in Miami and BTC Prague.

Shitcoins and NFTs invaded Bitcoin 2023, but most attendees didn’t seem to mind. Can Ordinals usher in a new era of Magic Internet Money?

In the coming years, the tone of the cryptocurrency market will be set by environmental projects, which will be increasingly used for mining around the world. New technologies and developments will be implemented in different parts of the world. And maybe even in outer space - such ideas and proposals already exist and are being discussed within the professional community. Interesting discussions took place at the Bitcoin Miami conference in the USA at the end of May. Bitcoin mining was one of the key topics in the latest report by Messari, a leader in cryptocurrency market research and analysis. The authors believe that the green agenda will increasingly dominate in this field, and it will be the driving force of the industry in the years to come.On the one hand, environmental friendliness will grow into an actual trend, and crypto enthusiasts will adhere to ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Investing approach - environmental, social, governance aspects of investing. On the other hand, this trend will be supported by economic considerations, and the high cost of energy. As for this point, Messari analytics highlights a very indicative example for Bitcoin mining cost: in 2021, the mining of 1 bitcoin cost American miners in Texas about $5-10 thousand, and the coin itself was trading at around $50-60 thousand; its value went down in 2022, and the best price was estimated at $20 thousand with $15-20 thousand of mining cost. Serhiy Tron, Owner of White Rock Management, speaking at the Bitcoin 2023 conference As the coins value decreased, miners actively went looking for ways to reduce their energy costs. First of all, by making mining more environmentally friendly. The interest in hydroelectric power and electricity generation by flaring gas, byproduct of oil production, has grown tremendously. The latter technology not only provides cheaper energy for cryptocurrency mining, but also significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Reduction of the negative impact of mining on the environment. "Being environmentally friendly is not just a fashion trend, but an economically profitable direction for mining. In some regions, the share of renewable energy in this field amounts to 40%, and even exceeds 70% in other regions. I think that interest will keep on growing, and global oil and gas corporations will cooperate more actively with the cryptocurrency industry. For example, our company has various projects in the U.S. underway: gas flaring in Texas and hydropower near Niagara Falls in the state of New York," said the founder of one of the world's largest mining companies, White Rock Management, Serhiy Tron. White Rock Management, along with 250 other companies, has joined the Crypto Climate Accord for environmentally friendly and safe cryptocurrency mining. With operating offices in Canada, Sweden, Kazakhstan and the United States, the company implements a number of green projects and has plans to develop data centers in Switzerland and the U.S.Tron believes that coal, oil and gas constituents will gradually be outed from the energy consumed by miners. A similar opinion has been voiced by Coin Metrics co-founder Nick Carter, who has high hopes about the use of energy from flare gas in bitcoin mining; he believes this type of fuel can completely cover the needs of all miners worldwide inside the next 10 years. Crypto analysts' predictions regarding the development of alternative sources are backed by energy experts.A new report from a global energy think tank Ember emphasizes that the global energy system will very shortly enter a “new era of reduction of fossil fuel production”. Gas and coal generation volumes are expected to decrease, with alternative sources in extensive use.Ember's findings note that at the end of 2022, the expansion of wind and solar power accounted for 80% of the growth in electricity demand, and when combined with hydropower and bioenergy, 92% of the growth. By the end of 2023, low-carbon sources are expected to provide 100% of the growth in energy demand. Analysts provide an interesting example: the solar power plants launched worldwide last year would be powerful enough to supply an entire country like South Africa for a year, and wind power plants would provide almost the entire 12-month supply for the United Kingdom. "The price/quality principle will be always at work. Miners will do everything to reduce their costs, and increase their income from cryptocurrency mining, while preventing methane emissions and being environmentally conscious along the way. This, in my opinion, is worth the support of local authorities in different regions. For example, by tax incentives or other means," says financial analyst Vladyslav Kravets. Particular interest in "green" mining is growing in the U.S. Local Marathon Digital Holdings launched the King Mountain data center in Texas, with a capacity of 280 MW, carbon-neutral by 70%. In addition, this spring the company announced a joint project with Zero Two, designed to construct two new 200 MW and 50 MW zero-carbon sites in the UAE (Abu Dhabi). Also, BIT Mining Limited reported building a 57.2 MW facility in the same state, running by 85% on clean energy. This does not come as a surprise, since the Americans have been growing generally more interested in cryptocurrency as of late. The bigger it is, the greater the interest of local miners in more environmentally friendly and cheaper crypto mining. The analytics service Ahrefs recently estimated that the word "Bitcoin" has been looked up 1.9 million times in Google search in the U.S. over the past 12 months. It topped the search ranking, coming before the scandalous former president Donald Trump, news, Elvis Presley, Disney and Spider-Man. "For years, Texas was considered the home of the American shale gas and oil revolution, but it has now become the go-to place for cryptocurrency miners. Miners have realized that energy from flare gas can be used profitably to mine crypto. Our company is using it already. Also, this way we significantly reduce CO2 emissions. Around 400 million tons of carbon dioxide make their way to the atmosphere annually, but the crypto community can reduce this figure significantly," assures Serhiy Tron. There is no doubt that the miners’ interest in green energy will grow as the interest in cryptocurrencies as such multiplies. This process is gradually spreading around the world, although not always in transparent ways.For example, in May, during the bankruptcy of BlockFi and Celsius, it was revealed that Druk Holding & Investments (DHI), a state-owned investment bank in the Asian Kingdom of Bhutan, was secretly (without public knowledge) mining bitcoin. This country employs hydropower, with natural availability of high-altitude mountains with fresh air that allow cooling down the equipment. Mining is carbon-neutral and, as DHI assures, self-sustaining.The interest in cryptocurrencies is increased in the Seychelles, and local Finance Minister Naadir Hassan stated in April that his government is working out the requirements for the registration and licensing of specialized companies. Also, state authorities in Europe's Liechtenstein have recently declared they’re going to allow their citizens to use bitcoin to pay for public services. Although the head of the government, Daniel Risch, did not specify when such a possibility was to come in effect, but was adamant that it eventually would. Regardless of what goes on in the crypto market and no matter what skeptics say about this industry, the interest for it does not decrease. Even after significant price swings of several coins and frightening statements about the crypto-winter. Steady focus of the investors and hi-tech companies is backed not only by the projects that’s been already greenlit, but with new developments, ideas and discussions that do not stop. At the end of May, for instance, active debates on the future development of the market and its prospects took place in the United States, at the Bitcoin Miami conference. “Rather interesting and large-scale event, which was helpful not for professional players alone, but for the curious newcomers as well. Highly-esteemed and acknowledged experts were represented at the event: Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines from Dfns, Joseph Ziolkowski from Relm Insurance, Domenic Carosa from Banxa and many others. Not only current problems were discussed, but some new developments, including those in the space industry, were spoken of openly, too. Quite gripping and productive. Once again, we were able to make sure that Bitcoin remains a powerful asset, and amid the challenging situation in the global economy and growing rates of inflation everywhere, attention and trust to Bitcoin is on the steady rise”, summed up Serhiy Tron. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Republican congressman Warren Davidson has stated that a tentative deal aimed at stopping the US government from defaulting on its debts potentially scuppers a proposed 30% crypto mining tax. US Looks To Avoid Default United States lawmakers had, on the 28th of May, 2023, released a draft of the “Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023” bill. The bill allows the government to increase the debt ceiling following long negotiations between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The debt ceiling is a limit on how much debt can be incurred by the Treasury Department. The proposed legislation still requires congressional approval before it can take effect and help the United States of America avoid a national default. A national default would be nothing short of an economic catastrophe for the US government. The proposed bill would suspend the debt ceiling for two years, allowing the US government to continue to borrow money and settle its outstanding debts. President Joe Biden had pressed for the deal to include several tax increases for corporations and high-income individuals. However, the draft suggests that such taxes were highly unlikely to be implemented. 30% Crypto Tax Blocked? Congressman Davidson took to Twitter to discuss the proposed bill and, in a relief to the crypto ecosystem in the US, stated that it blocked several proposed taxes. This included the proposed 30% tax on electricity used by cryptocurrency miners, which many feared would be part of President Biden’s FY2024 budget. If the proposed crypto tax passes, cryptocurrency miners could potentially face a 10% tax increase each year for the next three years starting in 2024. In a discussion on Twitter, Congressman Davidson called the blocking of proposed taxes a small victory. Following the negotiations, President Biden, in an address to the press, stated, “The agreement represents a compromise, which means no one got everything they wanted. The Speaker and I made clear from the start that the only way forward is with a bipartisan agreement. This agreement is an important step forward, and now it will go to the United States House and Senate. The agreement prevents the worst possible crisis, a default, for the first time in our nation’s history.” Many stakeholders in the cryptocurrency space have criticized the US government and those supporting the 30% crypto tax. This criticism had arisen long before the issue of debt default came into the picture. Several prominent voices from the crypto ecosystem have hailed the debt ceiling bill. However, the United States government still has a lot of work to do regarding the debt default deadline, which is looming and expected to hit in June. While the bipartisan agreement is indicative of lawmakers attempting to move forward, the bill still has to go through a hugely divided House of Representatives, with several Republican lawmakers openly hostile to Speaker McCarthy. Voting on the legislation is expected to take place on the 31st of May. Crypto’s Growing Appeal Many US states have opened their doors for crypto miners to set up operations in their jurisdiction. In April, Arkansas announced that it was joining Texas and Montana to propose legislation that would ensure that Bitcoin mining firms were protected under the law. Furthermore, shares of Riot Platforms have seen an increase of nearly 80% since the 1st of March. Marathon Digital has reported an increase of over 37% in the same period. The Digital Asset Mining Energy Excise Tax The Biden administration had proposed the Digital Asset Mining Energy excise tax (DAME) as part of its budget for the fiscal year 2024. The proposal sought to impose a tax equal to 30% of the total cost of electricity consumed during operations. However, the proposed bill saw significant pushback from the cryptocurrency community, with even Democrats critical of the bill. United States presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr called the bill a bad idea and publicly aligned with the crypto community. Senator Cynthia Lummis also vehemently opposed the bill and told the audience at the Bitcoin 2023 conference that the tax would not happen. “America must welcome innovation, and digital assets are the future of financial innovation. A 30% tax hike on any specific industry is a blatant attempt by the administration to pick winners and losers. I will not let President Biden tax the digital asset industry out of existence.” Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Despite the Bitcoin 2023 Conference kicking off in Miami, the price of Bitcoin remained relatively stagnant, prompting concerns among experts about the cryptocurrency’s future. To be precise, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation has been fluctuating between $27,400 and $26,500 for the past ten days, with this lacklustre volatility mirroring on Ethereum and other […]

US Senator Cynthia Lummis has pushed back against the Biden Administration’s proposal to tax cryptocurrency miners, stating that the administration is picking “winners and losers.” Bitcoin mining is a very polarizing subject in the United States of America and has drawn considerable ire from the Biden administration. A Harsh Tax Regime Bitcoin mining has often drawn harsh criticism from governments thanks to its high energy consumption. In the latest example, the Joe Biden administration has outlined plans to impose harsh taxes on Bitcoin mining. According to reports, the tax in question is called the Digital Asset Mining Energy Excise Tax (DAME). It was proposed by the administration in its budget for the fiscal year 2024. Under the proposal, cryptocurrency mining firms would have to pay a tax equal to 30% of the cost of electricity consumed. The tax would come into effect next year and be gradually phased in over a period of three years at a fixed rate of 10% per year until it reaches the targeted 30% by the end of 2026. Significant Pushback The proposal has been subject to furious pushback from prominent members of the cryptocurrency community, who have argued that the administration’s priorities are misplaced. However, prominent faces from the crypto community are not the only ones critical of the proposal. Robert F. Kennedy Jr, United States presidential candidate, has also roundly criticized the bill, calling it a “bad idea.” According to recent statements, Kennedy has chosen to publicly align himself with the Bitcoin community. Another prominent voice against the proposal is that of Senator Cynthia Lummis, who has been vocal in her criticism of the bill. Lummis first spoke against the bill at the Bitcoin 2023 conference, telling the audience in attendance that the tax would not happen. She later tweeted about the conference and reiterated her opposition to the proposal, arguing that she would not let the government kill the crypto industry with taxes and oppose the proposal in Congress. “America must welcome innovation, and digital assets are the future of financial innovation. A 30% tax hike on any specific industry is a blatant attempt by the administration to pick winners and losers. I will not let President Biden tax the digital asset industry out of existence.” Cryptocurrency regulation and taxation has become a significant talking point in the US budget. Apart from the proposed 30% tax on crypto mining activities, the Biden government has also stated that it wants to eliminate tax loopholes for wealthy crypto traders. President Biden’s comments have understandably sparked confusion within crypto circles. However, experts believe that he referred to a dearth of wash trading rules, allowing traders to engage in tax-loss harvesting. If the proposal is passed, it could lead to miners moving to other jurisdictions and putting significant uncertainty over the crypto industry in the United States in the face of growing regulatory pressure. Responsible Innovation Act To Be Reintroduced Senator Lumis, along with Democratic Senator Gillibrand of New York, has stated that there are plans to reintroduce the Responsible Innovations Act with some amendments, such as adding in greater customer protections. The bill was originally introduced last year and takes a comprehensive approach to regulating the crypto industry in the United States of America. Lummis and Gillibrand are working with the House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick T. McHenry, R-N.C., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif, with the group working to break the bill into different committees and get it passed. Lummis stated at the Bitcoin 2023 conference, “What we’re apt to see is for the House to move a stablecoin bill first, then you’ll probably see the introduction of Lummis Gillibrand in the Senate, which will remain comprehensive.” Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Renton, United States, May 25th, 2023, ChainwireStably, a leading Stablecoin-as-a-Service (SCaaS) and fiat on/off-ramp infrastructure provider for Web3 projects, is aiming to revolutionize the nascent Bitcoin ordinals market by launching its US Dollar (USD)-backed stablecoin, Stably USD, as a natively-issued BRC20 token under the symbol #USD. This groundbreaking development marks a critical milestone in the exponentially growing Bitcoin ordinals ecosystem that is now reaching half a billion dollars in total market capitalization in less than six months.#USD is a BRC20 standard stablecoin created via the Bitcoin ordinals protocol which was introduced in January 2023 after the recent Taproot upgrade. BRC20 tokens use a technique called ordinal inscriptions to attach data to individual "satoshis," the smallest unit of a Bitcoin. These satoshis can then represent anything from digital art ownership to “meme coins” and even stablecoins.According to Stably, every #USD token is backed 1-to-1 with USD in a collateral account managed by a US-regulated custodian for the benefit of KYC/AML-verified token holders. Monthly reports for the account are also conducted by a third-party stablecoin attestor to ensure #USD tokens are always fully collateralized with USD."When I met Domo, the creator of the BRC20 standard, at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami, I told him about our upcoming plans for #USD," said Kory Hoang, Stably’s CEO and Co-Founder. “He thought it was great and funny how we are creating a stablecoin on Bitcoin to enable Bitcoin trading on-chain… With a stablecoin built on Bitcoin. I’m still chuckling about it to this day, actually. In just one week after that, however, we made it happen!” The integration of BRC20 #USD into the Bitcoin network is part of Stably’s mission to power the next billion Web3 users with a seamless fiat-to-crypto and stablecoin onramp to all popular and emerging blockchain networks. The company’s upcoming collaborations with prominent ordinals and BRC20 projects, including UniSat–the world’s largest decentralized wallet/marketplace for ordinals–and Ordzaar–Asia’s first decentralized ordinals marketplace project, reflect Stably's aspiration to drive global innovation and adoption toward decentralized finance on the Bitcoin network, or “BitFi.” Additionally, Stably’s engineers are now exploring the new ORC20 standard for Bitcoin ordinals, which could significantly enhance the token properties of #USD once implemented.#USD can be issued/redeemed with Fedwire, SWIFT, USDC, and USDT by KYC-verified users across 200+ countries/regions currently, including up to 44 US states. Stably states that it is employing a manual process of issuance/redemption for #USD’s initial launch but plans to release support for automatic issuance/redemption through Stably Ramp, the company's plug-and-play fiat gateway widget, during Q3 2023. By then, users of #USD will be able to on/off-ramp via more traditional payment methods like ACH, instant ACH, and credit/debit cards, in addition to bank wires.Founded in 2018, the 20+ team member Seattle FinTech is backed by leading institutional and angel investors in the crypto space, such as Morgan Creek Capital, BEENEXT, 500 Startups, Hard Yaka, CREAM Labs, Sunny Lu of VeChain, and Paul Stahura of Donuts, Inc. The company has raised over $7.5-million in total funding to-date, $5-million of which was collected during its last Pre-Series A round in December 2021. Stably has also expanded its fiat on/off-ramp and stablecoin natively to more than ten emerging networks, including Arbitrum, XRP Ledger, Stellar, Tezos, VeChainThor, Harmony, Polymesh, Coreum, ICON, and Chia Network.About StablyStably is a Web3 payment infrastructure provider and FinCEN-registered MSB from Seattle. The company specializes in providing stablecoins and fiat crypto on and off-ramps to users of Web3 applications. Stably’s mission is to power this decade’s next billion Web3 users with regulatory-compliant payment infrastructure across both developed and emerging blockchain ecosystems.Visit stably.io to learn more.Risk Disclaimer: Digital assets involve significant risks, including (but not limited to) market volatility, cybercrime, regulatory changes, and technological challenges. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Digital assets are not insured by any government agency and holding digital assets could result in loss of value and even principal. Bridged or wrapped digital assets (e.g. WBTC) involve additional risks, such as technical challenges, higher fees, security vulnerabilities, and reliance on third-party custodians. Please conduct your own thorough research and understand potential risks before purchasing/holding digital assets. Nothing herein shall be considered legal or financial advice. For more information about the risks and considerations when using our services, please visit: stably.io/terms-of-service.ContactStably Head of MarketingMatthew [email protected]

Pro-crypto Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy made a campaign debut at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami.

In an interview with Cointelegraph during the Bitcoin 2023, Fred Pye spoke about how Canada's advanced regulation for crypto trading is drawing investors to the digital assets market.

Bakkt’s chief product officer, Dan O’Prey, expressed his optimism about the future of Bitcoin and the company’s outlook on regulated markets when he chatted with Cointelegraph at Bitcoin 2023.

The official announcement by the unit of Block (SQ) was made Thursday at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami Beach, Florida.

Roughly 15,000 attendees are expected at the Bitcoin 2023 event, versus 35,000 last year – likely a result of the downturn known as “crypto winter.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. presidential candidate, is among scheduled speakers.

In just three days, the price of Bitcoin has had a staggering increase of nearly $600, which demonstrated a strong upward momentum that was unexpected in a relatively short period of time. This increase sparked confidence from investors in the Bitcoin market. The reason that this price increase was completely unexpected was due to the SegWit2x hard fork, which is scheduled for November, and due to hit major markets such as Japan, the US and South Korea. This pre-planned adjustment has split opinions, with some businesses and exchanges losing confidence in Bitcoin. Some of the largest wallets and exchanges have reaffirmed their stance on the upcoming changes, and it is not always in the favour of SegWit2x. What is the SegWit2x? The SegWit2x was proposed to upgrade Bitcoin, in a couple of ways. It would enact the long-proposed code optimisation Segregated Witness, which alters how some of the data is stored on the network. The 2x would reflect the timeline for increasing the network’s block size to 2MB, which is doubled from 1MB. Who is for this upgrade? Like we mentioned before, this proposed change has very much divided businesses and exchanges. Coinbase and Bitfinex have reaffirmed their stance on the upcoming SegWit2x hard fork, and the Bitfinex development team have revealed that they plan to utilise the moniker, ‘B2X’ to list the SegWit2x fork of Bitcoin upon the completion of its hard fork in November. A member of the team released this statement; “We have elected to designate the SegWit2x fork as B2X, for now. The incumbent implementation will continue to trade as BTC even if the B2X chain has more hashing power. We are doing this for practical and operational reasons. Political considerations are irrelevant here. While we cannot change or re-assign ticker symbol, we can change the label or description associated with that ticker symbol. For the time being, BTC will continue to be labelled as ‘Bitcoin’ and B2X will be labelled as ‘B2X’”. For these two major exchanges, it is important to note that they are listing the new coin as B2X, even if it has more hashing power, because the investors and traders will likely remain on the legacy chain, or the original Bitcoin blockchain. This means that in November, the market, users and investors can then decide which Bitcoin blockchain will be referred to as ‘Bitcoin’ and ‘BTC’. Who opposes it? The market confidence and price surge for Bitcoin, could actually demonstrate a lack of support for SegWit2x. Trading of Bitcoin has been increasing greatly in major regions such as Japan and the US, which has seen the price surge. This price has been predicted to rise further, but only if the SegWit2x turns out to be a minority fork. Tuur Demeester spoke on this topic saying; “The chart needs to confirm, but if the Bitcoin 2x hard fork turns out to be a nothing burger, it could provide tailwinds for a rally and $5,000” Unfortunately, this claim could soon be backed up, as the market is not doing anything to demonstrate that these predictions are not correct. References and Further Reading: CoinDesk; Explainer: What is SegWit2x and What Does It Mean for Bitcoin? The CoinTelegraph; Bitcoin Exchanges Coinbase, Bitfinex Issue Guidance Before SegWit2X Hard Fork The CoinTelegraph; Xapo On SegWit2x: We Might Not Treat BTC Chain As Real Bitcoin

In just three days, the price of Bitcoin has had a staggering increase of nearly $600, which demonstrated a strong upward momentum that was unexpected in a relatively short period of time. This increase sparked confidence from investors in the Bitcoin market. The reason that this price increase was completely unexpected was due to the SegWit2x hard fork, which is scheduled for November, and due to hit major markets such as Japan, the US and South Korea. This pre-planned adjustment has split opinions, with some businesses and exchanges losing confidence in Bitcoin. Some of the largest wallets and exchanges have reaffirmed their stance on the upcoming changes, and it is not always in the favour of SegWit2x. What is the SegWit2x? The SegWit2x was proposed to upgrade Bitcoin, in a couple of ways. It would enact the long-proposed code optimisation Segregated Witness, which alters how some of the data is stored on the network. The 2x would reflect the timeline for increasing the network’s block size to 2MB, which is doubled from 1MB. Who is for this upgrade? Like we mentioned before, this proposed change has very much divided businesses and exchanges. Coinbase and Bitfinex have reaffirmed their stance on the upcoming SegWit2x hard fork, and the Bitfinex development team have revealed that they plan to utilise the moniker, ‘B2X’ to list the SegWit2x fork of Bitcoin upon the completion of its hard fork in November. A member of the team released this statement; “We have elected to designate the SegWit2x fork as B2X, for now. The incumbent implementation will continue to trade as BTC even if the B2X chain has more hashing power. We are doing this for practical and operational reasons. Political considerations are irrelevant here. While we cannot change or re-assign ticker symbol, we can change the label or description associated with that ticker symbol. For the time being, BTC will continue to be labelled as ‘Bitcoin’ and B2X will be labelled as ‘B2X’”. For these two major exchanges, it is important to note that they are listing the new coin as B2X, even if it has more hashing power, because the investors and traders will likely remain on the legacy chain, or the original Bitcoin blockchain. This means that in November, the market, users and investors can then decide which Bitcoin blockchain will be referred to as ‘Bitcoin’ and ‘BTC’. Who opposes it? The market confidence and price surge for Bitcoin, could actually demonstrate a lack of support for SegWit2x. Trading of Bitcoin has been increasing greatly in major regions such as Japan and the US, which has seen the price surge. This price has been predicted to rise further, but only if the SegWit2x turns out to be a minority fork. Tuur Demeester spoke on this topic saying; “The chart needs to confirm, but if the Bitcoin 2x hard fork turns out to be a nothing burger, it could provide tailwinds for a rally and $5,000” Unfortunately, this claim could soon be backed up, as the market is not doing anything to demonstrate that these predictions are not correct. References and Further Reading: CoinDesk; Explainer: What is SegWit2x and What Does It Mean for Bitcoin? The CoinTelegraph; Bitcoin Exchanges Coinbase, Bitfinex Issue Guidance Before SegWit2X Hard Fork The CoinTelegraph; Xapo On SegWit2x: We Might Not Treat BTC Chain As Real Bitcoin