F2Pool co-founder Chun Wang has strongly opposed the new Bitcoin proposal known as BIP-444, calling it “a bad idea.” He said he won’t support any kind of soft fork, whether it’s meant to be temporary or permanent. His comments have stirred fresh debate in the Bitcoin community since the proposal aims to reduce spam on the network by making short-term technical changes.
Wang, who attracted media attention earlier this year after becoming the first Bitcoiner to travel to space, criticized developers for “moving further in the wrong direction,” warning that short-term network fixes could harm Bitcoin’s long-term integrity. His remarks come as growing tensions surround the balance between innovation and decentralization within Bitcoin’s core development.
Developers Clash Over BIP-444
Soon after Wang’s statement, Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dashjr responded sharply. “Users decide protocol changes, not miners. You going to repeat Bitmain’s 2017 mistakes?” he asked on X. His comment referenced Bitcoin’s 2017 SegWit2x fork battle that split the community.
Another developer, Timón of Philus, shared similar doubts. “Still haven’t read the proposal but, in principle, a temporary softfork doesn’t seem like a good idea to me,” he wrote. Luke later clarified his view, saying, “It’s not a good change. It’s a heavy handed restriction to protect Bitcoin while we come up with a good change.”
Industry Voices Join the Debate
Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy, described BIP-444 as “incredibly stupid” and even framed it as an “attack” on Bitcoin. Meanwhile, Bitcoin analyst James Check argued that the proposal is “highly defective” and “antithetical” to Bitcoin’s principles. “I don’t think anyone serious can read that BIP and come out believing that is a good result for Bitcoin,” he said.
Interestingly, the two key figures, Wang and Dashjr, have a long history of public interaction. In 2021, Wang donated 1 BTC to Dashjr after he posted about financial struggles. However, their relationship has since soured. Earlier this month, Dashjr accused F2Pool of compromising the Bitcoin network by potentially exposing users to illegal content, urging miners to move to pools like Foundry or Antpool.
The heated debate over BIP-444 highlights the growing division within the Bitcoin community. Some believe the change could protect the network, while others worry it might go against Bitcoin’s original goal of staying open and truly decentralized.
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