Bitcoin Hard Fork Looms as Luke Dashjr's Alternative Chain Takes Shape
Bitcoin is facing a hard fork on September 1, which will split the network into two separate chains. The fork was initiated by Luke Dashjr, who has resigned as chairman and chief technology officer of Bitcoin mining pool OCEAN. Dashjr claims that the current Bitcoin chain is centralized and that BLAKE2b, the new mining algorithm, will remove a shortcut called ASICBoost, which gives large miners an efficiency edge.
However, critics argue that this reading is incorrect and that Spamcoin, the alternative chain, operates under even more centralized management. David Schwartz, Ripples former chief technology officer, dismissed Dashjr's claims as 'nonsense'.
OCEAN will continue to operate as a non-custodial pool, while CONVOY, another project led by Dashjr, aims to promote decentralized mining.
Bitcoin holders face two practical questions: replay risk and which chain their wallet tracks. The market will price the value of each chain after the fork.