It is no secret that the Bitcoin subReddit is not the most fun and loving place on the Internet by any means. Over the past year or so, various reports have surfaced regarding /r:/Bitcoin being mismanaged, and comments are being downvoted – or even removed – at every turn. Things have really gotten out of hand once the discussion about Bitcoin block sizes started. Those discussions are now spilling over, and Coinbase could be effectively banned from all major Bitcoin platforms soon.
Coinbase Supports BIP 101 And Might Get Punished
Discussion about the Bitcoin block size proposal is not welcome on /r/Bitcoin, nor should these discussions take place on Bitcointalk or even Bitcoin.org. Or that is what Bitcointalk and /r/Bitcoin owner Theymos wants people to believe, as the strongly feels BIP 101 is an abomination, and should be labeled as an altcoin.
For those of you who are blissfully unaware, Theymos controls /r/Bitcoin, Bitcointalk, the Bitcoin wiki, Bitcoin.org and Bitcoin.it. All of these platforms are the most popular ones for Bitcoin and digital currency discussions, yet they are in the full control of one individual. Whether or not that is the true abomination, is up to our readers.
Either way, Coinbase has openly expressed their support of the BIP 101 proposal, and they might be punished for doing so. BIP 101 Is known as Bitcoin XT, which is an effective fork of the Bitcoin protocol as most people know it. However, it is up to the community to decide if they want to stock to Bitcoin Core or switch over to Bitcoin XT.
While that decision should be sooner rather than later, there are still plenty of discussions going on regarding this debacle. As Coinbase, together with a fair amount of companies and mining pools, are supporting BIP 101, they are supporting the “alternative” version of Bitcoin. On the surface, both Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin XT are exactly the same thing, albeit they support bigger network blocks in a different manner.
According to information posted on /r/Bitcoin, Coinbase may be planning to switches all of their full Bitcoin nodes to BIP 101. Doing so would violate the /r/Bitcoin rules as Bitcoin XT is deemed an “altcoin”, which has no place in this public forum. Furthermore, Coinbase would be restricted to posting in the altcoin section of Bitcointalk, Bitcoin.org and Bitcoin.it.
While there is a fair point raised in terms of “choosing sides”, no single individual should have the audacity to act in such an unprofessional manner. Granted, Theymos has one of the worst reputations in terms of “people management”, yet there are still plenty of people supporting his decisions. Eventually, people like him could be the downfall of Bitcoin as a community, rather than the block size debate.
Source: Reddit
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