Bitcoin [BTC] maximalist comments on the latest bug fix; Cobra hisses back

In the past week, a huge conflict arose between the Bitcoin Core and the Bitcoin Cash community regarding a bug cited in Bitcoin Core recently. If exploited, the bug was believed to have harmed a large chunk of the BTC network. The bug was reportedly spotted by a developer working on the BCH project. This has led to a major debate and altercation on the social media platform, Twitter.

On 21st September, Peter R Rizun, a Scientist at Bitcoin Unlimited [BU] wrote that the developers from BCH and BU discovered the CVE-2018-17144 [Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures]. He also wrote that this is one of the most significant Bitcoin bugs ever seen that allowed miners to create coins out of thin air. He mentioned that the developer who pointed out the vulnerability put forth a responsible disclosure.

On this post, Cobra, the owner of the online portal Bitcoin.org shared his viewpoint. He believes that both the communities, BTC and BCH, must work together to achieve success. He stated:

“Turns out a Bitcoin Cash developer saved Bitcoin from one of its worst and most dangerous bugs ever. Let this be the end of the arrogance and hubris of the Core development team and their cult followers. Both communities are more powerful working together, not against!”

Here, Tone Vays, who is a popular Bitcoin influencer and maximalist in the cryptocurrency space appeared unhappy with Cobra’s comment on the matter. He even extended his disapproval and mentioned Cobra’s remark as ‘a garbage statement’. In his words:

“What a garbage statement by @CobraBitcoin If miner exploited #Bitcoin bug they would either lose a shit ton of $BTC as chain re-orgs into non-inflation one OR ALL value in #Blockchains(s) die if split BUT Similar bugs r exploitable in #shitcoin(s) like #BCash & move value to $BTC”

The argument did not stop here as Cobra continued to reply in the Twitter thread. He explained that an inflation bug in Bitcoin is not an ignorable threat. More so, he criticized Vays for implying that the latest bug issue was irrelevant. He posted:

“An inflation bug in Bitcoin is a big deal mate. Trying to make huge bugs like this seem irrelevant doesn’t help Bitcoin and makes me question whether such people that say things like this are even on Bitcoin’s side.”

Previously, Cory Fields, a Bitcoin Core developer also discovered a vulnerability in Bitcoin Cash. In his medium blog last month, Fields revealed that the vulnerability in BCH would have been a massive damage to the network, where any transactions in Bitcoin Cash would have been highly unsafe to carry out. However, he stated that the bug was fixed without any disruptive episode and was acknowledged on 7th May 2018.

The Core developer also clarified that Bitcoin Cash, though valuable, is not the same as Bitcoin. Subsequently, he said that the vulnerability that he discovered was only to affect Bitcoin Cash and not Bitcoin Core in any way. This is contrary to the claims of the Bitcoin Cash community, who is adamant about spreading the words, ‘Bitcoin Cash is the real Bitcoin’.