Bitcoin Unlimited Released
Lead developer Andrew Stone releases Bitcoin Unlimited, a client aiming to allow miners to set their own block size limits, eventually influencing the creation of the Bitcoin Cash Network.
On March 11, 2016, Bitcoin Unlimited, a new full-node implementation of Bitcoin, was released by lead developer Andrew Stone. Unlike Bitcoin Core, which enforced a fixed 1MB block size, Bitcoin Unlimited allowed miners to individually set their preferred block size limit, giving the network flexibility to accommodate growing transaction volumes.
The software quickly gained attention in the Bitcoin community as it represented a concrete alternative to Bitcoin Core’s conservative approach and earlier proposals like Bitcoin XT and Bitcoin Classic. Key figures, including Bitcoin advocate Roger Ver, publicly supported the project, seeing it as a path toward scaling Bitcoin in a manner that could satisfy both miners and users.
Major mining pools, most notably Antpool led by Jihan Wu, also showed support, signaling significant potential network impact. Bitcoin Unlimited’s release would later lay the technical and ideological groundwork that enabled the eventual emergence of the Bitcoin Cash Network in 2017, as supporters of larger blocks pursued a chain split to realize their scaling vision.The release prompted intense discussions on governance, consensus, and the balance of power between developers, miners, and the broader Bitcoin community.