What August 1, 2017 represents for BCH

Saturday, July 11th, 2020

The other day, I finally watched the acclaimed musical Hamilton for the first time. I wish I'd been able to see it in person because even while watching at home on my TV I couldn't help but be amazed at all the hard work that must have gone into creating this show. The hours spent on writing the music and the choreography, on memorizing every line and movement so it could be performed flawlessly on stage. The entire production served as a reminder of what can be accomplished when people work together toward a common goal.

For those who don't know, Hamilton is a Broadway musical based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America.

As I watched the show it was hard not to see certain parallels between the beginnings of the US and the beginnings of Bitcoin Cash. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to compare the BTC BCH split with that of Great Britain and the US centuries ago, but there are stark differences between the two situations that need to be acknowledged.

For example, the US declared its independence from Great Britain because they didn't want to be taxed without representation. This ultimately led to the American Revolutionary War. But it's not like the big blockers in the Bitcoin community were ever forced to pay a tax to those who were opposed to raising the block size limit. And it wasn't like Amaury, Jihan, and Haipo had to wage a war to free the big blockers from small blocker tyranny. What they did instead was forked the code, dedicated some hash, and once the first block was mined with the new consensus rules on August 1, 2017, BCH was born.

As we approach the three year anniversary of that day, there has been some talk in the BCH community about whether or not it should be referred to as BCH independence day. No one is saying the date shouldn't be celebrated, but I do think it's important how we frame what it is we're celebrating. If we view 8/1/17 as the day big blockers rebelled against the small blockers and declared their independence, there is a danger of sending a message to outsiders that the BCH project is nothing more than a protest movement against BTC.

Imagine if even after gaining their independence, the founding fathers of the US spent all their time complaining about Great Britain and King George. What if they kept focusing on protesting rather than building, or trying to tell anyone that would listen that the US was the real Great Britain? I doubt they would have been taken seriously if that was the case.

Another way of looking at it would be if your friend's ex-girlfriend kept trying to convince you whenever you saw her that their relationship failed because your friend was crazy while she was this perfect angel. Who are you going to think was the crazy one and the reason it didn't work out?

Unfortunately, this is how some of us within the BCH community have continued to behave three years later. Picture someone who was cheated on in their past and can't move on or maintain a healthy relationship as a result. I have to wonder if that's how other crypto communities view the BCH community, like some damaged person who can't move on from a past transgression.

I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in particular, because I'm as guilty of this as everyone else. But I say it's time for the BCH community to move forward, to stop comparing ourselves to BTC and complaining about what happened before August 1st, 2017.

After winning the war, the founding fathers of the US didn't waste their time talking trash about Great Britain. Instead they focused their energy on building their new nation, and their efforts attracted others who came to see the US as a nation full of enormous potential and opportunity. I believe that is the kind of message the BCH community needs to signal to the rest of the world as well.

So let's use this August 1st to remind ourselves that in order to move forward we must stop dwelling on the past. What's done is done, and the only way BCH is going to succeed is if we keep building and attracting like-minded people to the ecosystem.

To echo what Alexander Hamilton wrote of the US in his introduction to the Federalist Papers, I believe the fate of the BCH community is in many ways one of the most interesting in the history, and if we fail to deliver peer-to-peer electronic cash to the world, it will deserve to be considered as the general misfortune of mankind.