The community is hotly discussing the SegWit+2MB block expansion compromise plan, and Barry Silbert claims that 78.3% of the hash power supports it

Barry Silbert, CEO of Digital Currency Group (DCG), said that miners accounting for 80% of Bitcoin computing power support SegWit+2MB blocks.

Silbert has publicly stated his pro-Bitcoin scaling preferences, with Silbert reportedly having signed agreements with “over 50 Bitcoin companies from approximately 20 countries” to support his stance.

“I am delighted to have over 50 Bitcoin companies from approximately 20 countries sign on to support this compromise solution. — Barry Silbert (@barrysilbert) May 17, 2017”

“I support activating SegWit immediately and increasing the block size to 2MB within 12 months,” Silbert explained.

Later on Wednesday, Silbert confirmed that “78.3%” of the hashrate came from miners supporting his scaling solution.

“78.3% of the hashrate now supports this scaling compromise.”

The survey results were obtained by collecting responses from the community, which is currently engaged in a more adversarial debate over scaling.

Core developer Eric Lombrozo commented:

“To get 2MB blocks requires wallet support for SegWit. If this is what Silbert is referring to in his statement, then it will be easy to get development support.”

ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees subsequently accused Silbert of “abandoning the initiative.”

Blockstream CEO Adam Back said:

“I think what they mean is a two-step approach to scaling, activating SegWit first and then working on further scaling improvements, so there are a lot of options.”

Bitcoin entrepreneur Tuur Demeester then asked for clarification on whether Silbert was supporting a SegWit user activated soft fork (UASF) or a SegWit+2MB hard fork.

In another tweet, Todd seemed to accuse Silbert of having to make his stance consistent with his money.

“If Silbert was serious, he should talk about UASF — he claims there is enough support to implement BIP148 smoothly. — Peter Todd (@petertoddbtc) May 18, 2017”

The conversations have also focused on the size of the Bitcoin mempool, which currently has approximately $400 million worth of transactions awaiting confirmation, at an average value of $2,300 per transaction.