I wonder, instead of the hard fork or soft split, just increase the gas...and do a reverse bitcoin split or some may call a bitcoin merge. In this approach, shares or bit slices of bitcoin are effectively merged to form a smaller number of proportionally more valuable shares or bit slices...and thereby achieving a more valuable bitcoin. I like to compare this conundrum to my trading of stocks [although applicability is far and few between]. But for argument sake, I looked at Zacks and found this at: http://finance.zacks.com/reverse-stock-split-good-bad-2298.html

Now, in comparison and substitution, you could hypothesize the following:

In Applying “The Mechanics:

In a [coin] reverse split, an ICO cancels all of its outstanding coins and distributes new coins to its bitcoinholders. The number of new coins you get is in direct proportion to how many you owned before, but the number itself will be smaller. For example, in a 1-for-2 reverse split, you would come out of the split owning one share for every two you owned previously. And if you owned 1,200 shares, then you would wind up with 600 shares. And In a 1-for-3 split, you end up with one share for every three you owned, and thus so you would emerge from the reverse split with 400 shares if you started with 1,200.

In Regards to the Bitcoin Pricing:

The ICO's coin market capitalization -- the total value of all its coins -- stays the same before and after the reverse split. Let's conjecture Bitcoin has 21 million outstanding coins, a market cap at $37,508,913,830, a circulating supply at 16,455,825 give or take, and a coin price of $2,280 a coin. An execution of a 1-for-4 reverse split, reducing the circulating supply to 4,113,706.25 million. The coin's value remains the same, at $1,460,460 million, so now each coin is worth $9,120. So, if you owned 100 coins at $2,280 ea before, now you own 25 coins worth $9,120 ea. The total value of your investment remains the same: $228,000. Nothing about the ICO's bitcoin has changed except the number of coins available, and that by itself has increased the stock price fourfold...FOOD FOR THOUGHT! Root for a reverse-split...”//medianation