A great description of Economic Nodes in https://github.com/bitcoin-cap/. Demonstrates why the consensus discussion is critical for protecting the integrity of the protocol. Large institutional players and governments could hold significant sway as adoption among these actors grows. Fortunately the interests of these actors are not necessarily aligned, which of course brings a different set of challenges for positive evolution.
I wish I had some answers - learning as I go.
Economic Nodes
Economic Nodes play a critical role in bitcoin's consensus mechanism. Economic Nodes are full nodes that not only validate and relay transactions but also receive and send substantial amounts of bitcoin payments. These nodes are distinct from nodes just validating blocks and transactions. These Economic Nodes are typically operated by businesses and institutions that handle significant volumes of bitcoin transactions and often serve as bridges between the bitcoin network and the traditional financial system (providing a venue to swap BTC for fiat currencies or other cryptocurrencies).
Economic Nodes, or nodes that regularly receive bitcoin, have power and influence which is proportional to the frequency and volume of payments received. For example, a high volume exchange has power in that if their nodes reject blocks mined by Miners, it would devalue the chain that Miners are building upon.
They include:
Cryptocurrency exchanges
Payment processors
Custody providers
Large merchants and service providers who accept Bitcoin as payment
RPC providers (manage and host nodes for application developers)
Powers:
Ability to define which fork is bitcoin by choosing which version of the software to run and set ticker symbols
Reject blocks they consider invalid, potentially causing chain splits
Ability to list or not list markets for spot and derivative markets for forks
Ability to sell fork coins on behalf of users without their permission
Incentives:
Maximize transaction volume and trading activity
Maintain the security and stability of the network
Comply with regulatory requirements in their jurisdictions
May have equity investments in bitcoin businesses
#bitcoin #consensus #freedomtech