As I write, the mainstream media is starting to pick up on the Bitcoin Unlimited vs Bitcoin Core ‘split’ and get excited about the possibility of a contentious fork. Make no mistake, everyone hostile to the concept of Bitcoin is enjoying this. ‘Divide and conquer’ springs to mind.

FWIW, here is my idea of what a compromise might look like as a first step to reuniting the Bitcoin community. I doubt anyone will like it – but maybe people can live with it … or it might inspire other ideas for a more collaborative way forward.

First: Bitcoin Unlimited undertakes to implement SegWit (e.g. like Bitcoin EC might), which should allow its activation & the benefits that brings. Wallets representing the majority of Bitcoin Txs are SegWit ready, so hopefully fee pressure drops quickly. We all want that. If you don’t like SegWit, you don’t have to use it.

Second: some Bitcoin Core contributors and others *volunteer* to help Bitcoin Unlimited / Bitcoin EC. BU needs to be brought up-to-date to get the benefits from Core 0.14 code. It also needs rigorous peer review and testing. Break it and fix it, over and over. No-one wants to see Bitcoin nodes be taken offline en-masse. We all want Bitcoin to be robust.

Third: explore ways to prove EC works or enhance it so it does – e.g. as a sidechain (mergemined) or used to define the size of extension blocks. We need to think about the ways EC can be abused by bad actors and how to fix those problems. If time is spent fixing BU and addressing every concern, perhaps it can achieve consensus. Failing that, it could be useful in other ways.

Fourth: everyone stops the threats. I know people are passionate, but it just destroys confidence (and therefore value). We all need to think ‘how can I deescalate this?’ before speaking or writing.

Fifth: remember Bitcoin is not yours. Every Bitcoin business and influencer is partially responsible for the wealth of ~millions of people. Many of whom cannot afford to lose 50% due to forks or disputes & have no voice. Be responsible in your actions and words.

In short, lets prove the naysayers wrong … again. Consensus will not be achieved via threats or abuse from either side.