Key facts:
One of the main questions has to do with the arbitrary form of the decision.
Some critics predict that the coalition between the groups of miners will fail.
There is little controversy over the new measure announced by the main mining pools (or groups) in the Bitcoin Cash network, which imposes a contribution of 12.5% on block rewards for network developers. Although some in the cryptocurrency community support the project, most consider it to be a bad practice.
Among the main positions against the measure, the criticism of the way in which it was approved stands out. The argument of some members of the community raises the fact that in a network that intends to be decentralized, a group of mining pools are making the decision to allocate funds for development without a voting process, also threatening to leave the blocks orphaned that do not join the financing plan.
In this regard, cryptocurrency ecosystem enthusiasts have come to refer to the coalition formed by the ViaBTC, BTC.com, Bitcoin.com, Antpool and BTC.Top pools as a "mafia."
Recall that precisely one of the characteristics of the launch of the financing fund for Bitcoin Cash developers is described in the document that announces it: «there is no vote of master nodes or any other vote. This is a decision of the miners to finance the development directly».
Among the critics tailored is Charlie Lee, creator of the litecoin cryptocurrency (LTC). For Lee, the implementation of this mechanism could be "very destabilizing," he wrote on Twitter. In addition, he weighed the fact that "adding a centralizing feature in this coercive way sets a very bad precedent."
On the other hand, the founder of Litecoin emphasizes that, although the mining groups that promote the fund have an important participation in the network, their power is insufficient to force the rest to adhere to the financing system.
In fact, if we review Coin Dance data, in the last 7 days the combination of blocks mined by these groups is 34%. Therefore, the pools that reported on the fund would have to add processing power, Lee reflected.
https://twitter.com/SatoshiLite/status/1220251072863719425/photo/1
For his part, Ruben Somsen, founder of the Seoul Bitcoin educational platform, presented his arguments against the decision. He even considered that to those who think it is a good idea to deliver the mentioned percentage of the rewards, they should also reject this fund because of the way in which it is sought to impose.
Even if you think it's a good decision, you should reject it simply because the miners are making a unilateral decision about YOUR money. Your next decision may not be one that you like
Ruben Somsen, Seoul Bitcoin
The position of Lawson Baker, of TokenSoft, is similar. Especially, he criticized on his Twitter the lack of discussion of the project. «Why not argue before doing so? The miners privately created a policy of non-debate (public), ”he wrote about it. On the other hand, he clarified that he is in favor of financing for development, but also advocates discussion before making decisions.
Position in favor
Among those who welcome the announcement is Amaury Séchet, one of the most recognized Bitcoin Cash developers. In a text published on Thursday, Séchet said he was "excited" about the possible positive implications it could have. "This proposal may yield very beneficial results for Bitcoin Cash," he said among his conclusions.
Even so, the developer also expressed certain concerns. Mainly, he was skeptical about the management of the funds, which will be managed by a corporation based in Hong Kong. "The proposed configuration would inspire more community confidence than a faceless corporation," he said in his note.
Another recognized character of the ecosystem that supports the initiative is Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, although he also expressed concern about aspects such as governance and denied the supposed “voluntary” character of adhering to the financing policy that will govern between May 15 and September 15th.
In favor of the project, he said "applaud" that "the challenges of public goods be taken seriously.
Vin Armani, co-founder of CoinMarkets and CTO at CoinText, went further. Not only did he consider the plan to go according to plan, but he believes that "it will result in solid price gains for BCH." Also, he said, it will be considered "as one of the most important innovations in Bitcoin. Voluntary, limited time and free market solution».
This is not the only recent attempt to improve the development process in Bitcoin Cash. Last November, Roger Ver, CEO of Bitcoin.com and one of the signers of the new plan, announced a USD 200 million fund to develop payment solutions and financial services around BCH.