TIL: 5 years ago Bitcoin had a controversial software update that was cancelled weeks before releasing

"Segwit2x" or just 2x, was a plan to increase the block size limit from 1 MB to 2 MB. This was believed to improve Bitcoin's transaction speed and lower transaction fees, making it more usable. It was a hard fork proposition, meaning that it would make old blocks incompatible with the new chain, essentially splitting it into two. Miners and developers argued that without a change like this, competing cryptocurrencies would take over Bitcoin and lead as a digital currency. Other developers and node operators however saw this fork as a corporate takeover and refused the change. 2x was unable to reach a consensus and was not adopted on it's planned date of Nov 16, 2017.

Ultimately, 2x wasn't necessary. The goal of SegWit was to increase overall transaction capacity via a soft fork mechanism which would not prompt a split and was already increasing the block size (Block 718,645, mined on Jan 14, 2022, was 1.9MB in size). Segwit2x was a hard fork attempt.

What the markets were like at the time it was cancelled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwKDWhH1re4