If you’re a fan of Bitcoin Cash, you will find a lot of activity over on Reddit. Reddit has become an extremely popular place for many cryptocurrency communities with many announcements and plenty of discussion taking place.
The history of the biggest Bitcoin Cash reddit page – r/btc – is an interesting one. Like Bitcoin Cash itself, r/btc split from the traditional r/bitcoin subreddit over claims of censorship stemming from the scaling debate issue.
Why was r/btc created?
While the scaling debate still rumbles on to this day following the split of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, it was the split of the Bitcoin subreddits that happened first. There are two major cryptocurrency subreddits: r/Bitcoin and r/btc.
r/btc was created as a rebellion against the r/bitcoin subreddit due to fears over censorship. Since then, and in particular since the Bitcoin hard fork, r/btc has gone on to become the leading subreddit for Bitcoin Cash. There have been numerous splits in the community since the scaling debate, and this is just one of them.
For those in the Bitcoin Cash camp, they believe that their views were being suppressed on the r/bitcoin subreddit. When they attempted to talk about making the block size bigger, they found themselves banned or would have their posts removed.
Many in the r/btc subreddit subscribe to the theory that r/bitcoin is a place for “sock puppets” and “Blockstream shills” who never want to see bigger blocks on Bitcoin.
The same allegations have been made from members of r/bitcoin though, with many accusing r/btc of being full of Roger Ver “sock puppets”.
Do not be surprised when you visit r/btc to find many issues or criticisms levelled at BCH being blamed on Bitcoin.
If this all sounds rather childish, then actually visiting these subreddits or viewing the way both communities interact with each other isn’t going to change your mind. Despite the hard fork happening and the two Bitcoins being separate entities with different development teams, the childish attacks and vitriol still occurs to this day. This is true for both sides of the debate.
Roger Ver, one of the main proponents behind Bitcoin Cash, is a moderator of r/btc and consistently posts in the subreddit to keep the community updated on BCH and engage with the community (and to attack BTC of course).
In fairness to r/btc, the subreddit does allow a much wider debate on the positives and negatives of both BTC and BCH – as one would expect when they are against censorship. However, due to the fervent support of BCH, you can expect positive posts about BTC or negative criticism of BCH to be downvoted.
If you are looking for a balanced, mature debate, Reddit as a whole might not be the place for you.
Censorship on forums
Censorship can certainly restrict the freedom of ideas, and the forum can at times become a cesspool of nonsensical discussion. This is the delicate balancing act that moderators of forums have to deal with. Without moderators, forums can easily fall into chaos with duplicate posts and inane chatter. However, too much moderation can lead to an echo chamber of ideas and little debate.
Which subreddit you prefer will likely come down to which cryptocurrency you support. If you are a big fan of BCH, then r/btc is most certainly the place for you to discuss your thoughts. However, if you support BTC, then it is unlikely you will find many friends in the r/btc community and you may want to stick to r/bitcoin.
r/bitcoincash
There is also a smaller but still popular BCH subreddit known as r/bitcoincash. Although the subreddit has much fewer members than r/btc – around 43,000 – it is still fairly active. This subreddit contains less debate than its alternative and seems to focus more on news and updates regarding Bitcoin Cash. While r/btc will still have Bitcoin debates, r/BitcoinCash focuses solely on BCH.
Conclusion
Reddit can be a useful place to find information about your favourite cryptocurrencies. At the same time though, debates can sink into vitriolic comments and lazy arguments. This is true of any kind of forum. For BCH supporters, there is no other place to be than r/btc for all your Bitcoin Cash needs.
When reading information on any cryptocurrency subreddit, ensure you cross-reference the sources. There are many shills on every Reddit hoping to lure in suckers to buy their bags. Stay safe out there!
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.