BTCB2 Ticker Switch Sparks Controversy Amid Mining Power Struggle
The Bitcoin fork, BTCB2, is embroiled in controversy after its team persuaded a couple of small trading venues to list it under the ticker XBT. The decision has sparked criticism because XBT is an established ISO code used for bitcoin (BTC) itself across Kraken futures and institutional rails.
The project, Bitcoin Blake2b, forked away from Bitcoin on August 8 at block height 961632. It was then listed on a couple of relatively unknown trading platforms, including Neoxa Exchange, which changed the ticker from BTCB2 to XBT after being persuaded by the team.
Critics argue that this move helps legitimize what they consider a scam and mislead users by using the XBT ticker. They point out that XBT is the ISO-compliant currency code for Bitcoin, used by Kraken in its APIs and historical data everywhere.
The controversy extends to the project's mining dynamics, with Alphapool controlling over 50% of the network's hashpower on September 8. This has sparked a debate about decentralization, with some arguing that it is a real attack while others see it as miners chasing easy money.