Bitcoin XT
Web3 / crypto history
Bitcoin XT was one of the earliest and most significant hard forks of Bitcoin Core, proposed in 2015 by Mike Hearn and Gavin Andresen. It aimed to increase the block size limit from 1 megabyte to 8 megabytes, intended to improve transaction throughput and reduce fees during periods of network congestion. Bitcoin XT represented a critical moment in cryptocurrency history, as it crystallized the "block size debate" that divided the Bitcoin community between those advocating for on-chain scaling (larger blocks) and those preferring layer-two solutions and smaller blocks for network decentralization. Example: When Bitcoin XT reached approximately 12% network adoption in late 2015, major exchanges and mining pools publicly debated whether to support the fork, with some miners temporarily pointing hash power toward XT blocks before ultimately reverting to Bitcoin Core. Why it matters for crypto history: Bitcoin XT demonstrated how contentious technical disagreements could fracture a blockchain community. Its failure to achieve consensus established that Bitcoin's governance required broader community support, influencing how subsequent protocol upgrades and forks would be evaluated and debated.
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