What Is Bitcoin SV? History of Bitcoin’s Most Controversial Fork

Bitcoin (BTC) , the most popular cryptocurrency on the planet, is a far cry from what it was intended to be by its founder, Satoshi Nakakmoto . 

For a while now, the developers behind Bitcoin have been steadily steering the immensely popular cryptocurrency away from what was initially set out in its whitepaper. 

Bitcoin SV (BSV) is trying to resolve this by creating a version of the token much more representative of Nakamoto’s original ambitions. The question is, though, how did this seemingly hopeful project become one of the most controversial cryptocurrencies ever? 

What Is Bitcoin SV?

If Bitcoin SV is a standalone cryptocurrency, you might wonder why it has Bitcoin in its name.

This isn’t because it’s a cheap scam, but because Bitcoin SV is a hard fork. Hard forks occur when a cryptocurrency network diverges into two, like creating a fork in a road where two cars of the same model head in different directions. 

The fork and Bitcoin SV exist due to a small group of developers who felt the original Bitcoin strayed too far from Satoshi Nakamoto’s ideas. Hence, ‘SV’ stands for ‘Satoshi’s vision.’ 

History of Bitcoin SV

While I said that Bitcoin SV is a hard fork, there’s more to it than just that. 

In August 2017, a Bitcoin hard fork resulted in the creation of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) – a modernized version of Bitcoin which aimed to resolve the ongoing issues of long transaction times and higher fees.

While initially more in line with Satoshi’s vision, BCH similarly began introducing more protocols and upgrades that neglected the founder’s wishes over time.

As a result, Bitcoin Cash experienced its own hard fork, resulting in the birth of Bitcoin SV—a true-to-form homage to Satoshi that would follow his principles as closely as possible. 

Meet Bitcoin SV’s Founder: Craig Wright 

It’s difficult to discuss Bitcoin SV without mentioning the project’s founder, the ever-controversial Craig Wright . 

Wright is an Australian computer scientist with two PhDs and a master’s degree. He’s become infamous because he claims to be the real Satoshi Nakamoto.

Therefore, you can understand why so many people followed him after he founded Bitcoin SV. If anyone knows what Satoshi would have wanted, it’s surely the man himself. 

However, there has been no evidence proving Wright to be Nakamoto since the rumor began swirling around in 2015. In March 2024, it was even determined during a UK court case that, by legal definition, Craig Wright was not, in fact, Nakamoto. 

Wright’s outlandish claim has been a double-edged sword, driving popular intrigue toward Bitcoin SV while simultaneously harming its reputation. 

What Is Meant by ‘Satoshi’s Vision’? 

So far, Satoshi Nakamoto and his immense influence have been mentioned in passing, but what exactly does the mysterious developer say that’s so important?

The most important phrase in Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper , which encapsulates his vision for Bitcoin, is the very first line: “A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash.” 

The specific mention of “Peer-to-peer” and “Cash” indicates that he intended for Bitcoin to be shared liberally, like real money. After all, we all spend cash regularly, so wouldn’t the same apply to Bitcoin?

The problem is that Bitcoin has had scalability issues, meaning the network hasn’t done a good job growing alongside its user base. Therefore, it’s been bogged down by high fees and slow transaction times, ultimately making it more of a hedge fund than a form of cash, hence the nickname “Digital gold.” 

To sum up, Bitcoin has reached a scaling ceiling, making it awkward and expensive to move around. Understandably, people save rather than spend, but Nakamoto did not want this. 

Bitcoin SV, therefore, needs to incentivize people to join its network while also fixing the underlying issues to encourage them to spend rather than stock up. 

Nakamoto’s Leaked Emails

Though the Bitcoin SV team got most of their inspiration from the whitepaper, they have also cited Nakamoto’s leaked emails as proof of his true intentions. 

Nakamoto’s comments in these documents essentially back up his original ideas, making them a little clearer. For example, one of the most important quotes is when he mentions that Bitcoin “Never really hits a scale ceiling,” emphasizing that these scaling issues affecting it today disrupt the original vision. 

Another important statement is when Nakamoto claims that Bitcoin will scale much more than “The existing Visa card network,” suggesting that he had dreamed it would be just as popular in mainstream appeal. 

How Bitcoin SV Restores Satoshi’s Vision 

Now that we know why Bitcoin SV was created let’s see how it attempts to restore Satoshi’s vision from a practical perspective. 

Block Sizes

When transactions enter a blockchain, they are packed into blocks, which are then mined and verified later on. 

Think of this process as a conveyor belt. If there are thousands of blocks being piled on at once, it’s going to take a while before customers receive their block at the end. 

This is why smaller blocks on a blockchain network ultimately mean slower transaction speeds since an abundance of them clogs up the network’s pipeline.

Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash have only reached block sizes of 4MB and 32MB, respectively, but Bitcoin SV can reach up to 2GB – essentially unbounded block sizes. 

As a result, a typical transaction on the BSV blockchain takes only 2 seconds, compared to Bitcoin’s average of 10 minutes to an hour. Block sizes relate to scalability, and since Nakamoto saw no limit to Bitcoin’s size, this feeds into that original vision.

Fees 

A smaller block size equals faster transaction speeds and cheaper fees.

In 2021, Bitcoin transactions required a transaction fee of roughly $20, while Bitcoin SV was only around $0.0027. This trend continued, as in February 2023, Craig Wright proudly Tweeted that, while Bitcoin’s transactions were stuck at 88 cents, conducting the same on-chain transaction in real time on BSV would only charge 0.0007 cents. 

Cheaper fees encourage investors to use Bitcoin more liberally, contributing to Satoshi’s vision of it being actively shared as a form of peer-to-peer currency. 

Energy Requirements 

As touched upon earlier, for Bitcoin transactions to be verified, they need to be mined by a group of miners. This is known as a proof-of-work algorithm since the miners put in the work to be compensated with tokens after they finish. 

Proof-of-work is specifically mentioned in Nakamoto’s whitepaper, so the process itself is not controversial; it’s the energy required. 

In 2022 alone, Bitcoin mining used more energy than New Zealand, Belgium, and Sweden combined. Understandably, this has stunted Bitcoin’s widespread acceptance, especially since there are much cleaner options.

Bitcoin SV, too, uses proof-of-work, but since fewer blocks need to be verified as a whole, BSV is a much cleaner alternative. This can be thought of almost as an incentive to get people to join a more eco-friendly network, which in turn will encourage investors to spend tokens more freely thanks to low transactions and fast transaction speeds. 

Smart Contract Functionality

Smart contracts , digital pieces of code used to build applications, weren’t around when Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin in 2009; they were only introduced in 2015 by Ethereum (ETH) . 

However, they have since become crucial in convincing both investors and developers to join a network. To put it simply, smart contracts allow for the creation of dApps—apps that can allow crypto investors to interact with their assets in various ways, such as borrowing and lending, just to name a few use cases. 

The Bitcoin network does not natively support smart contracts, which means creating Dapps with them is very difficult and difficult, especially if they’re more complex. Bitcoin SV, on the other hand, fully supports them. 

Additionally, since they allow investors to manage their crypto using a range of financial tools, just like real “cash,” the Bitcoin SV team saw them as a worthy integration. 

Why Is Bitcoin SV so Controversial?

After seeing these upgrades and enhancements, it would be easy to assume that Bitcoin SV is, by default, the superior version of Bitcoin. 

The truth is, though, that Bitcoin SV has been embroiled in controversy ever since its beginning, preventing it from reaching the popularity of its counterparts. 

Craig Wright’s Antics 

Craig Wright’s determination to prove his theory of being the real Nakamoto hasn’t reflected well on BSV.

For example, in 2019, Wright desperately attempted to claim the Bitcoin whitepaper for himself. In response, multiple crypto exchanges, including Kraken and Binance, delisted BSV, with Wright’s silly antics coming at the cost of his own supporters. 

That’s not all, though, as Wright has also been very hostile towards anyone on social media trying to disprove his claim. He infamously threatened to sue famous podcaster Hodlonaut, only for many crypto news outlets to criticize Wright for his actions. 

Ironically, the founder of Bitcoin SV is arguably the primary reason why it’s been looked down on by so many people, but it’s not just him who contributed to this. 

Calvin Ayre

Calvin Ayre is a Canadian entrepreneur who has been Craig Wright’s financial backer since the birth of BSV.

Ayre had nothing to do with crypto before supporting BSV and is often viewed in the mainstream as a billionaire gambling magnate. 

Therefore, he’s been met with a lot of skepticism by community members who feel he’s only trying to make a quick buck rather than believing in Satoshi’s vision. Skepticism only grew when Ayre announced he would be taking a break from BSV a day after Wright’s UK court hearing, which was suspicious timing. 

Lack of Nodes

Since there are fewer blocks on the BSV network, fewer nodes are needed, which can ultimately lead to them teaming up and centralizing the network. 

Running a node at an individual level has become almost impossible on BSV nowadays, and charts have shown that roughly 81% of blocks are now being handled by the same nodes. Unfortunately, this is the price that is paid for having bigger blocks. 

Repeated Attacks 

Between June and August 2021, BSV was targeted by three 51% attacks. As the name suggests, these attacks involve cyber attackers taking over a network by controlling the hashing power—the computer power needed to mine blocks. 

It was soon revealed that BSV’s hash rate was so low that it was only 0.05% of that on Bitcoin. To put this into perspective, even a smaller Bitcoin miner could perform a similar attack if they so wished. 

Though the disruptions were resolved quickly, these ferocious attacks have made people cautious about using Bitcoin SV for their own safety. 

Illiquidity 

All of these controversies have ultimately harmed Bitcoin SV’s liquidity, making it difficult to buy and sell. This has resulted in Bitcoin SV’s community and private value being much smaller than its counterparts and far harder to actually make profit from.

ERP software developer Joshua Henslee has argued that, even during Craig Wright’s more positive moments, this doesn’t always tend to boost the average BSV price, mainly because its liquidity is so poor. 

Who Uses Bitcoin SV?

Though it may not be the most exciting token in terms of investment, some people can still benefit from using Bitcoin SV.

The first is blockchain tech enthusiasts who want to experiment with ambitious implementations like limitless block size and near-instant transaction speeds. The lack of liquidity means trading might be difficult, but this hands-on experience can still be valuable for future networks that might use similar technology. 

The second are the Nakamoto fans. In 2021, a study by Canada’s MNP deduced that, when comparing the Bitcoin whitepaper to all three versions, “Our findings indicate that Bitcoin SV is most representative of Satoshi Nakamoto’s original intention for Bitcoin.”

Therefore, Bitcoin SV is legitimately the closest we can get to the original Bitcoin protocol, making it almost a relic or a love letter to the grandfather of crypto himself. 

On the Flipside 

• Bitcoin SV, due to its controversial perception, hasn’t been able to receive mass adoption. 
• This was one of Nakamoto’s hopes in his whitepaper, which BSV has failed to achieve.

Why This Matters

As we’ve seen, Bitcoin SV has fascinated many people due to its controversies.

However, it’s also worth knowing because of its genuinely impressive tech and architecture, which may potentially be a taster of how blockchains could work in the future.

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