More controversy is brewing around the latest Bitcoin fork, BTCB2, as the team behind the minority chain has persuaded a couple of small trading venues to list the coin under the ticker XBT. The decision is drawing criticism because XBT is a long-established ISO 4217-style code used for bitcoin (BTC) itself across Kraken futures and institutional rails, leaving plenty of people unhappy with the choice.
Key Takeaways
- Neoxa switched BTCB2 to XBT on Sept. 8, kicking off a fresh ticker fight.
- Alphapool neared 50% of BTCB2’s hashrate, fueling a messy decentralization debate.
- Alphapool plans a 30% cap as BTCB2 supporters scramble to cool the mining drama.
BTCB2’s XBT Ticker Choice Sparks Fresh Backlash
The project Bitcoin Blake2b, which forked away from Bitcoin on Aug. 8, 2026, at block height 961632, is causing arguments once again in the crypto space. After the split, on Aug. 30, the project’s developers switched its proof-of-work (PoW) to BLAKE2b and reduced the block size.
It was then listed on a couple of relatively unknown trading platforms, including Neoxa Exchange, which changed the ticker from BTCB2 to XBT after being persuaded by the team. Then on Tuesday, X account Coinjoined Chris took to the social media platform to criticize Neoxa Exchange following the move.
“Hey [Neoxa Exchange] please don’t fall for their stupid games. XBT is the ISO-compliant currency code for Bitcoin; it is used by [Kraken] for Bitcoin in its APIs; it is used in historical data everywhere. Blake Bitcoin is not Bitcoin is not XBT,” Chris wrote.
Neoxa’s X account replied and stated:
“It will be consensus with other exchanges too. We have clearly on our site BTC and XBT. Withdrawals and deposits are clearly marked. Other exchanges coming online for them will use exact ticker. We are a tiny exchange, and want to give the ticker they chose, it’s not up to us to make the ticker. Projects chooses tickers, and we didn’t use BTC because we already have a BTC ticker on the exchange. We did our due diligence and there was nothing illegal about calling it XBT.”
Chris was not happy with this response and basically accused the BTCB2 team of helping legitimize what he considers a scam and misleading users by using the XBT ticker. “You are an enabler in their affinity scam, and you deceive users,” he argued. “XBT is literally the ticker of the most valuable Cryptocurrency on the planet. Stop being retards.” In addition to the XBT ticker, the project is using an old version of the Bitcoin logo.
Price Sinks and Minority Chain Jumps Ahead of Bitcoin’s Ledger
In terms of trading, BTCB2, now called XBT on Neoxa Exchange, is trading for much lower prices than when Bitcoin.com News reported on the coin trading for 750 USDC and 1,000 USDC on Sept. 6. On the USDC market, the forked crypto asset is changing hands between $250 to $350 per unit as of 6:45 p.m. EDT. That specific market has clocked around 915,672 USDC over the last day in trading volume, while the BTC market has recorded 5.35 BTC over the 24 hours.
Neoxa Exchange chart for BTCB2, which the team and exchange now call XBT.
At the time of writing, the BTCB2 chain is 3,866 blocks ahead of the BTC blockchain, and there’s roughly 16.9 to 17.6 petahash per second (PH/s) dedicated to mining this network. There are 27 mining pools in the mix, and this includes operators such as Alphapool, Pyblock, mycology, Pow.re, PLACEHOLDER, Bitcoin Xor, Ghtz69q8, Unknown, Lazarus, Titus 1:15, Opzj8hfh, DATUM User, Knots, Leonx13yoga, and Nutty Maximalist, among several others.
Alphapool Hashrate Fight Puts BTCB2 Decentralization to the Test
Then came more controversy. On Sept. 8, a mining pool mining the BTCB2 chain called Alphapool controlled over 50% of the network’s hashpower. In the Knots Discord server, BTCB2 supporters are basically arguing over whether Alphapool getting way too much hashrate is a real attack or just miners chasing easy money. Then came a Knots Github proposal aimed at blacklisting its payout address at consensus Alphapool’s address at the consensus level. Knots creator Luke Dashjr labeled the patch “DO NOT RUN THIS CODE.”
BTCB2 Github repository.
On X, BTCB2 supporters and devs have told Alphapool to “stop mining” and the project has been roasted over these comments and the recent Github proposal. In the Discord channel, an account associated with Alphapool apparently says it will voluntarily cap its share at 30% of the Knots/BTCB2 network hashrate and reject new mining connections once it reaches that specific threshold. At 4:30 p.m. EDT, Alphapool’s hashrate has cooled down to less than 18% of the hashrate.
BTCB2 developer Chris Guida on X.
Critics Pounce on the BTCB2 Team’s Claims
The irony here, and observed by many on Crypto Twitter, is that the fork of Bitcoin and its supporters wholeheartedly believe the project is far more decentralized than it really is. Bitcoin (BTC) supporters are not buying it. “Never in all my years have I seen submitting hashrate and securing a blockchain protocol in and of itself perceived as a ‘hostile attack,’” Alphapool wrote on X.
“There is something deeply unsettling about indoctrination to this degree that flies directly in the face of observable and provable reality. Choosing to ignore measurable reality to uphold an irrational belief is simply dangerous. Its so intense it nearly [toes] the line of mental illness, imho,” the mining pool added.
Nevertheless, BTCB2 proponents continue to this day claiming that their minority chain is Bitcoin. But in reality, the obsession with branding and performative decentralization has completely eclipsed any merit supporters thought they had. There doesn’t seem to be any innovation, just an exercise in tribal delusion.
Author: Jamie Redman
Source: Bitcoin
Reviewed By: Editorial Team
