比特币已分裂为两种货币

Bitcoin’s much-anticipated split into two currencies has taken effect, triggering a process that some fear could divide and undermine the crypto currency community.

人们广泛预期的比特币(Bitcoin)分裂为两种货币已经发生，一些人担心由此引发的进程可能分裂和破坏加密货币社区。

Following an ideological conflict over the future of bitcoin, as transaction volumes increase to unmanageable levels, rebel users on Tuesday created a new version of the currency known as Bitcoin Cash.

伴随围绕比特币未来的观念冲突，以及交易量增长到难以处理的水平，反对派用户周二推出了一种名为“比特币现金”(Bitcoin Cash)的新版本比特币。

As the crypto currency market now grapples with the most significant change in its architecture to date, it could still be days before the long-term effects of the change are known.

由于比特币市场仍在应对迄今最重大的架构变化，可能还需要数天时间才能看出这一变化的长远影响。

But with Tuesday’s so-called “hard fork” upgrade flying in the face of a separate agreement made by community heavyweights in New York in May, analysts say the development exposes a crisis at the heart of the community.

但是，鉴于周二的所谓“硬叉”(hard fork)升级根本不理睬比特币社区重量级人物5月在纽约达成的另一份协议，分析人士称，这一事态暴露了比特币社区的内在危机。

“You’ve got various vested interests at work fighting for the future of the bitcoin network,” said Charles Hayter, chief executive of CryptoCompare. “How the network develops and forms will define it?.?.?.?now we have an experiment at work.

“在为比特币网络的未来而战的角力中，存在着各路既得利益，”CryptoCompare首席执行官查尔斯?海特(Charles Hayter)表示，“这一网络如何发展，以及界定它的形式……现在我们正在实验。”

“It is like the Greek city state, there are various political systems with money involved.”

“这就像希腊城邦一样，有着各种各样涉及金钱的政治制度。”

Bitcoin’s systems have been threatened by a recent surge in popularity, which has seen its value jump to over $2,697, from around $997 at the start of the year. As transaction levels increase, the currency has run up against inbuilt limitations in its ability to process payments.

比特币体系受到了近期人气飙升的威胁，其价格从年初的997美元左右跃升至2697美元。随着交易水平的提高，比特币在支付能力上遭遇了内置的限制。

Bitcoin only allows one megabyte of data to be added to its ledger of asset ownership, the blockchain, every 10 minutes — a restriction that has caused huge delays and higher fees as transaction levels increase.

比特币只允许每10分钟添加1Mb数据到区块链（比特币的资产所有权分类帐）；随着交易水平的提高，这一限制造成了巨大的延迟和较高的费用。

Bitcoin Cash, which launched on exchanges such as China-based ViaBTC and multinational Kraken on Tuesday, also uses the blockchain but allows 8Mb of data to be added every 10 minutes.

比特币现金(Bitcoin Cash)周二在中国的微比特(ViaBTC)交易平台和跨国交易平台Kraken上推出，它也使用区块链，但允许每10分钟添加8Mb数据。

Investors will be given both versions of the currency once the split has been finalised.

一旦此次分裂完成后，投资者将获得两种版本的该货币。

Masterminded by a breakaway group including former Facebook engineer Amaury Sechet, Bitcoin Cash is thought to favour larger mining pools, which are predominantly found in China.

比特币现金是由一个另立门户的组织策划的，其中包括Facebook前工程师阿莫里?塞谢(Amaury Sechet)。据信比特币现金有利于大型采矿池，它们主要在中国。

It is also supported by Craig Wright, the Australian who last year failed to prove decisively he was Satoshi Nakamoto, the architect of bitcoin, but who many people still consider influential in the market.

比特币现金还获得了克雷格?赖特(Craig Wright)的支持，这个澳大利亚人去年没能确切证明自己就是比特币的缔造者中本聪(Satoshi Nakamoto)，但许多人仍然认为他对该市场有影响力。

Many data miners switched to the new currency, which began trading on Tuesday. Bitcoin itself fell 6.1 per cent to $2,697.

许多数据矿工转向这种新货币，该货币于周二开始交易。比特币本身下跌6.1%，至2697美元。

The alternate proposal to Bitcoin Cash is known as Segwit2x. It is designed to facilitate more transaction processing capacity off the main blockchain, using so-called sidechains or compatible systems such as the Lightning Network.

比特币现金的替代方案被称为Segwit2x，该方案旨在使主要区块链具备更大交易处理能力，利用所谓的侧链技术或Lightning Network等兼容系统。

Some commenters in online forums fear it may take days before enough blocks are forged to make Bitcoin Cash credible.

在网络论坛上，一些评论者担心，可能需要几天时间才能生产出足够的区块让比特币现金获得信任。