As Bitcoin's (BTC) popularity continues to grow, its network built on 1MB blocks struggles to keep up with the growing number of transactions. Two groups within the Bitcoin community, the "Big Blockers" and "Decentralists," disagree on how to address the blocksize issue. Big Blockers are focused on realizing Bitcoin's potential to serve as a cash alternative and compete with traditional payment systems; but Decentralists fear that increasing the blocksize will compromise Bitcoin's security by placing control in the hands of fewer stakeholders, and expose it to government regulations that will jeopardize its censor-free qualities. A group of developers attempted to resolve the issue in November 2017 by increasing Bitcoin's blocksize to 2MB with an update dubbed "SegWit2X." SegWit2X ultimately failed, proving too controversial; but the discussion surrounding the proposal highlights each group's position, and the important ramifications the blocksize debate has for Bitcoin's future.  Click here to read more on the issued Client Alert.

This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.