NodeCounter, a website that allows people to visualize Bitcoin mining statistics has made an announcement, calling for the cryptocurrency community to boycott Bitcoin. This is the second such announcement by the platform as it voices its frustration against the Bitcoin Core developers.

The announcement perhaps reflects the feelings of many in the Bitcoin community who are tired of news reports about scalability issues and developer gatherings without yielding any results until now. NodeCounter, in its first announcement, claims that the development of Bitcoin Core has been taken up by Blockstream, which is preventing the development of Bitcoin protocol for its own gains. The website further blames Blockstream for censoring various open forums to prevent people from discussing the alternatives or raising awareness about the current scenario.

While the first announcement sounds more like a NodeCounter’s promotion of Bitcoin Classic, the latest announcement strikes a more neutral tone, without naming any rival protocols or companies.

The NodeCounter “Public Service Announcement #2” blames the Bitcoin development team for not taking satisfactory steps in accordance with the original Bitcoin whitepaper published by Satoshi Nakamoto. It also claims that the Bitcoin protocol has transformed from being a simple peer to peer fund transfer protocol to a settlement layer with complex overlays and very high transaction fees.

There are been multiple calls for increasing the maximum block size. In spite of these calls and many BIPs, either the core development team or the mining community have always opposed these changes. At this point, NodeCounter wants to convey that the community has had enough of these back and forth discussions. It proposes an unthinkable, yet possible solution which involves moving from Bitcoin to some other decentralized cryptocurrency where the development team is more receptive to community’s needs and suggestions.

“There are currently cryptocurrencies which perform better than Bitcoin, have more features than Bitcoin, have a more receptive and open development team than Bitcoin, and have a better upgrade path than Bitcoin. The single and only remaining quality that Bitcoin has over these other cryptocurrencies is first-mover advantage. In every other category Bitcoin is second. Thus, as it is currently impossible to make a change within the current Bitcoin development team, it is recommended that you place your investments in those cryptocurrencies which have the features and development teams you want the most.”

NodeCounter stops short of naming any alternative cryptocurrency by saying that it is the free market’s choice.

It is time for the Bitcoin Core developers and the mining community to act before the whole community starts sharing NodeCounter’s opinion. Else, who knows which cryptocurrency will end up taking Bitcoin’s place. And miners should think about all the investment that has gone into mining ASICs.

Ref: NodeCounter |Image: Shutterstock