Blockchain.com Attacked Over Refusal to Implement Bitcoin SegWit

The Segregated Witness (Segwit) protocol for Bitcoin, has grown since its activation in 2017. However, it would seem that exchanges adopting the protocol are few, and most are not bothered about implementing it.

Tony Vays, Crypto analyst and host of the Crypto Scam Podcast accused leading cryptocurrency exchange Blockchain.com of failing to implement Segwit after claiming they were ready in January 2017.

Peter Smith, CEO of Blockchain.com had said back in 2017,

…before the hostile Core replies come: yes I support SW. Yes we are ready for it. And yes I’ve encouraged others:)

— Peter Smith (@OneMorePeter) January 31, 2017

Tony Vays in the current allegations claims that BCH influencer, Roger Ver funded Blockchain.com may be one of the reasons why the company has failed to implement a protocol that will improve the Bitcoin network.

For the records, Segwit is a software fork Bitcoin protocol upgrade activated in 2017 to increase the network’s block capacity and fix all forms of malleability. Since its activation, Segwit transactions have stalled in the range of 40-50% even though it could lower the cost of Bitcoin transactions.

Community Reacts

However, the crypto community expressed dissatisfaction that Blockchain.com has not implemented Segwit until now and requested a reason for the holdup.

One user asked, “Do you also support SegWit without the promise? As agreed between Core devs and Blockstream?”

Another commenter expressed disbelief at the situation, saying,

“I can’t believe what I’m reading…  Segwit has been stalled by miners and 2X hostile actors for years, and you clowns blame Core for higher fees?  And @OneMorePeter, the only thing distasteful here is you and @blockchain. Two years down the road and still no segwit.”

Although Blockchain’s CEO, Smith, has not yet provided an answer to these questions, it is a valid point Vays has raised.

Are Exchanges to Blame for High Bitcoin Transaction Fees?

Although the Segwit protocol offers the advantage of reduced Bitcoin transaction fees, it is taking a while for it to gain traction, since transaction fees at the moment are relatively low.

Exchanges such as Coinbase, Bitfinex, and Bitstamp have adopted Segwit while only Bitfinex and Bitstamp enabled support for their extension, called transaction batching.

Aside from that flock, Blockchain.com, Binance, BitMEX, and Bittrex are yet to add support for Segwit. Blockchain.com and Binance alone have nearly 100 million user wallets, meaning that Bitcoin transactions would cost less if these exchanges added support for Segwit.