Since the creation of Bitcoin by Satoshi Nakamoto, several modifications have taken place in the original protocol and totally new projects have realized forks to differentiate from this original protocol. Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold have gained their space, with each of them saying to implement improvements over Bitcoin.
In its present state, Bitcoin's network is vulnerable to a series of weaknesses that have attracted great criticism of the first and main crypto-cash in existence. This is not surprising since even Satoshi made it clear that he was open to discussing his idea. The inherited weaknesses led to various predictions from opposition groups about the possible 'dethronement' of Bitcoin as a cryptomaniac #1.
Transaction Speed
The speed with which transactions are confirmed in the bitcoin network are low compared to what they were only 2 years ago. Delayed transactions have become a common scenario in Bitcoin, which leaves users frustrated more often. This issue is taken as one of the major reasons why the currency is not considered useful for trading, in addition to its high volatility. Apparently, to encourage widespread use and majority adoption, the value of the timing of the transaction should not vary depending on the time of receipt. This is hardly the case nowadays, since Bitcoin's transactions take a few hours to confirm. Numerous discussions and innovations such as Segwit came about because of this problem and even the hardfork that gave life to Bitcoin Cash was based on the search for network efficiency.
Cost Per Transaction
Transaction rates have become impractical in the Bitcoin ecosystem. The rates are often so expensive that they are ridiculous.
These rates contradict the original ideal of making a p2p transaction as a cheaper method of sending money.
Other Hardfork
The Bitcoin network is about to try out another hardfork by an anonymous team who say they follow Satoshi Nakamoto's original principles when creating Bitcoin Atom (BCA).
According to the team leader who prefers to remain anonymous, in bringing the solution to the double problem of speed and cost, the protocol will run on-chain and off-chain mechanisms (eg Lightning & Atomic Swaps). He points out that even centralization being a less obvious problem for Bitcoin, the risk provided by exchanges in which currency is largely transacted is already a major concern for the industry.
The Bitcoin Atom team claims to include switching functionality in the Bitcoin node protocol, so no one can control the exchange, just the system alone.
This protocol, however, will combine both Proof of Work and Proof of Stake, which will be based on Bitcoin's old base code, unlike some similar implementations before it.
Tags: #bitcoin #cryptocurrency #fork #bitcoinatom #lightningnetwork