Bitcoin Tweets of the Week: Forking Drama and Black Monday

With the bitcoin fork debate still raging, it is hardly surprising it has been a hot topic on social media over the past week.

Twitter was awash with comments featuring both sides of the camp – those in favour and those against Bitcoin XT, the software fork that seeks to resolve the digital currency's scalability issue by increasing the size of blocks.

On the other hand, Black Monday – which saw Chinese stock markets plummet to an eight year low and panic spread throughout the rest of the world's stock markets – also resulted in some Twitter chatter, enabling those bullish on bitcoin to share their largely positive outlook on the digital currency.

#BitcoinXT

The mainstream media dubbed the bitcoin fork a "civil war" and a "constitutional crisis", but some crypto enthusiasts were no less critical.

#BitcoinXT appears to be the biggest attack on Bitcoin in history.







— Greg Slepak (@taoeffect) August 21, 2015

Although slightly less harsh, Oleg Andreev also voiced his disagreement.

One thing I really dislike about XT is that it does not introduce a single controversial thing, but several such things at once.







— Oleg Andreev (@oleganza) August 20, 2015

Globetrotting entrepreneur and activist Roger Ver – popularly known as Bitcoin Jesus – on the other hand, took to Twitter to encourage people to install Bitcoin XT.

If you run a full node, and support bigger blocks so more people around the world can use Bitcoin, install XT today: http://t.co/1lSnWn5fxI — Roger Ver (@rogerkver) August 16, 2015

Meanwhile, bitcoin evangelist Andreas Antonopoulos attempted to weigh down the drama by highlighting the significance of the network's diversity and flexibility.

All the fork drama is really overblown. Diversity is good and bitcoin is resilient. Consensus will converge on the correct answer. — AndreasMAntonopoulos (@aantonop) August 20, 2015

Antonopoulos was not the only one focusing on the positive, however, as others also used the opportunity to praise the digital currency's decentralised nature.

The blocksize is a minor issue; what matters is #Bitcoin's ability to govern itself. Unable to evolve is worse than unable to scale. — Emin Gün Sirer (@el33th4xor) August 16, 2015

If you have Bitcoin, your money is stateless, and with that, comes statelessness.





— Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) August 24, 2015

#BlackMonday

As most people focused on the world's financial markets, watching as hundreds of billions disappeared from stock markets, others continued to focus on bitcoin and its potential. Bitcoin enthusiasts began to ask questions about the potential effects – whether negative or positive – on their beloved digital currency.

As stocks tumble on #blackmonday, is this good or bad for #bitcoin? http://t.co/rOoBCijG1D pic.twitter.com/xE9Yu0UU3n







— Magnr (@magnr) August 24, 2015

Whether good or bad, some seemed to use the news to make a stance against non bitcoin believers, seemingly poking fun at fiat currency supporters who may have been affected by the troubles of the financial markets.

funny how nobody is laughing at #bitcoin now!! #BlackMonday — smash mouth fan (@HumanPog) August 24, 2015

With things still not looking good for the world economy, one Twitter user reflected on whether the cryptocurrency's fervent supporters would speak out in defence of bitcoin and its price.

About time the bulls returned to #bitcoin? #blackmonday — Paul Melton (@Shadhammer) August 24, 2015

With his tweet, it seems Melton is referring to the fact some people previously used economic downturns to publicly promote the digital currency.

A clear example of this took place a couple of months ago, when the bitcoin bulls came out in full force following the implementation of capital controls in Greece. Despite pundits at the time claiming the digital currency's price was being driven upwards by events in the Southern European country, the extent to which this is true remains to be seen. This, however, did not deter the enthusiasm of bitcoin aficionados who continued to pump the digital currency.

Is the China bubble ready to pop? A significant global stock market correction is imminent? Get some #Bitcoin. Just in case. Thank me later.





— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) August 24, 2015

Wow, it looks like now is a good time to buy #Bitcoin cheap! #money — Lucy Hansen (@hansenbeach) August 25, 2015

Others attempted to set the record straight, providing a serious definition of the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin is more secure and automated money. It is not magic pixie dust that changes the human mind or the laws of economics.





— Nick Szabo (@NickSzabo4) August 25, 2015

Which bitcoin tweets particularly inspired you this week? Let us know in the comments below.

Twitter image via ymgerman / Shutterstock.com