๐ก๐ผ ๐ข๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป, ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐
๐๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ
In 2017, it was proven once and for all who runs #Bitcoinโs protocol.
Itโs not miners, large corporations, or even Twitter influencers.
Itโs ๐๐ผ๐.
Find out why and how in 1min below๐
In "The Blocksize War", Jonathan Bier chronicles the heated debate over how to best scale Bitcoin to serve a global population, which soon grew into a fight over who ultimately controls Bitcoinโs protocol.
๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ #๐ญ: ๐ข๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐
From the beginning, those who wanted large blocks wanted a better user experience sooner, because they wanted Bitcoinโs adoption to grow faster. Those who wanted to keep the blocks small also wanted a better user experience and increased adoption, but they opted for a strategy with a slower pace with more long-term benefits.
๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ #๐ฎ: ๐ข๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฑ๐
Big blockers from the wealthiest Bitcoin businesses met in secret to discuss and eventually agree upon a proposal that would activate SegWit ๐๐ฃ๐ double the blocksize limit. They viewed this as a compromise with the small blockers.
Small blockers from around the world rallied in a grassroots UASF campaign to ensure SegWitโs activation, and that Bitcoinโs blocks remain small. They stood their ground, and refused to compromise. It was a quintessential โDavid vs Goliathโ moment.
๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ #๐ฏ: ๐๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐น๐น ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐
Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent by some of the largest companies in the Bitcoin space, to push for a protocol change to increase the blocksize limit by hard fork. Over 80% of the hashpower had signaled its favorability toward this change. And some of the most influential bitcoiners had thrown their weight behind it, too.
The only option left was for the users to say was โNo,โ and thatโs exactly what they did!
๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ #๐ฐ: ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐
Usually, even the best causes are swiftly co-opted by their enemies, who sneak in undetected, and then dismantle the movement from the inside. This book is the story of one of the few moments in history when that scheme ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐.
๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ #๐ฑ: ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น
The result of the Blocksize War forever set a new precedent for Bitcoin, and how its rules are enforced and upgraded. Itโs now known that the users are in charge, and that the miners and developers work for them.
As new proposals for Bitcoinโs protocol changes arise, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ must decide whether to use it or not. This is why running a full node is so important.
Whether you were there to experience it or not, โThe Blocksize Warโ will give you a new level of appreciation and confidence for how Bitcoin's protocol works, and how the network became what it is today.
Useful insights? โก๏ธ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ and ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ this tweet for future reference!
Got a book you want me to explore next? โก๏ธ Let me know in the ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐! ๐
See you at next week's Bitcoin insight!