Support for Segwit2x, the New York Agreement, and the Upcoming Bitcoin Fork Explained

Support for Segwit2x, the New York Agreement, and the Upcoming Bitcoin Fork Explained
By Steven Hay October 8, 2017 12 Comments Share Tweet Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email + Last updated on October 10th, 2017 at 07:32 amA little over three months ago, SegWit, a Bitcoin upgrade, was activated after a long and hefty debate. The result of this debate also created an altcoin called Bitcoin Cash, which was created as the opposition to the Segwit solution. Now, we’re on the verge of another split in the Bitcoin network called Segwit2x. For a complete history of everything that’s happened until now, read this post. The much-awaited Segwit activation came with a condition: a block-size increase within three months of activation (i.e., a hard fork). Miners who were initially against Segwit activated it under the terms of the so-called New York Agreement (NYA). The NYA is also known as the Silbert or DCG Agreement after Barry Silbert, the deal’s broker and the founder of the Digital Currency Group. Silbert brokered the deal between various industry players, most notably mining firm Bitmain, the Coinbase exchange, and the BitPay payment service. The SegWit soft fork is seeing steadily increasing usage to the network’s benefit (such as lower fees). Further dependent improvements (chiefly, the development of the Lightning Network) are virtually assured. Focus has now shifted to the NYA’s final part, which demands a mid-November 2017 hard fork to increase block size. Read more: Support for Segwit2x, the New York Agreement, and the Upcoming Bitcoin Fork Explained | 99Bitcoins