Bitcoin Unlimited and Bitcoin Core went head to head last week in what the future may say was the decisive battle between the two visions. The opening shot was a tweet of a security vulnerability that sent nodes down crashing, but it barely lasted, with nodes recovering in just one day.

Bitcoin Unlimited returned metaphorical fire by blaming Bitcoin Core for the bug due to their enabling of assertions in live production, an unusual practice. Plus, whoever was on the sideline would have not been pleased at all about the security vulnerability tweet.

Then, Bitcoin Core almost checkmated when some exchanges came out to say they will give the BTC ticker to Bitcoin Core regardless of any factor. A move that places the entire currency into question as it makes one wonder why bother with proof of work at all.

Price moved downwards swiftly. Panic was in the air. The currency was in crisis and an urgent response was required. Shapeshift came out to say they signed a different version. Kraken, at first, said the same too, but then changed it to say they reserve the right to give the BTC ticker to the longest chain.

Coinbase came out to say they will follow the longest chain, calming the markets. Then, when PoW fork threats resurfaced, even BitFury, a strong Bitcoin Core supporter, lost its cool.

The price fall was halted, with market sentiment seemingly slowly shifting upwards once more when it became somewhat clear Bitcoin Unlimited had gained the upper hand.

Bitcoin Core developer, Peter Todd, retreated, saying a PoW fork should be used only if a real 51% attack of the minority chain is undertaken. Luke-Jr’s poll showed, disregarding the majority vote for BU, that by a slim majority most prefer Bitcoin Core does not fork if Bitcoin Unlimited forks.

Bitcoin Unlimited now has a hashrate of near 40%. Chandler Guo’s pool joined today, probably sending it around 45%. F2Pool and BW are now to decide, but it seems probable the Bitcoin Unlimited client has gained the upper hand.

Now, Bitcoin Unlimited supporters need to decide what happens if their client does activate perhaps around summer or autumn. There are some inclined towards shutting the door to Bitcoin Core supporters, we here at Trustnodes strongly urge the Bitcoin Unlimited community to resist this inclination.

They are bitcoiners, one of us. A lot has been said and a lot has been done by a lot of people and there are a lot of so called conspiracy theories, but, the difference in vision is very genuine.

The very first reply to Satoshi Nakamoto’s announcement of the bitcoin whitepaper was by a certain James A. Donald, a pseudonymous cryptographer who argued back in 2008 that for the network to scale a sort of settlement system was needed.

Nakamoto rejected that argument, but the truth of the matter is that they both are trying to predict the future, an impossible task. We may say that Nakamoto is probably smarter than Donald, therefore probably has greater foresight, and, it’s his invention in any event so his vision should be given priority, but we can’t say with certainty that Donald is wrong because bitcoin is treading a new path. We don’t know.

Bitcoin Unlimited, therefore, should welcome Bitcoin Core supporters or developers if they wish to continue contributing. They should also give concessions and implement segwit as a hardfork because the Lightning Network has its uses, especially for micropayments.

Moreover, the community needs to act like they have won the argument because their support is far more than segwit. No point digging dirt at this stage. After two years of debate, whatever was to be said has been said. The hashrate is now finally deciding.

Bitcoin Core needs to accept their decision, whether we like it or not, for otherwise we have a constitutional crisis and utter chaos with other currencies, which certainly won’t be welcoming to them at all, gaining far more ground.

This has been a very tough decision as everyone in all sides would most probably agree, but if we can reach a decision and remain one, how much more strengthened would this currency be? How much wonder would it inspire to say that with no “leader” a conclusion in a completely decentralized manner was made? Who can then, doubt, in any way, that this currency cannot be hijacked or controlled by any one individual or group?

Let’s not forget how we got here. Just months ago it seemed clear segwit was headed for activation and bitcoin turned into a settlement system. Then, it stalled at around 25%. New miners entered the market, preferring bitcoin unlimited. With one of them saying “show me the money.” Others joined, giving it momentum, the client is now very close to majority.

If it does reach 70-80% hashrate, you think most Bitcoin Core supporters would not begin to see the advantages or at least consider that perhaps it is the best way forward? You think they really would support a chain with almost no security? Wouldn’t they back bitcoin, the currency, as well as their investment, and move towards supporting the market’s decision?

We can be one. Forgive and forget. Open the door to all. We can return the peaceful days. We can, believe us here at trustnodes, we can be one again.