Replying to Avatar BottleTeams

Nodes dictate the network, whatever version the majority are running enforces those rules on the network.
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gsovereignty 2mo ago 💬 3

Bitcoin is not a democracy. If "the majority" of nodes get to decide what the bitcoin protocol is then a government could just spin up a a couple million nodes and change the 21 million hard cap. That isn't how it works.

The rolling set of nodes that *verify bitcoin received in exchange for something else* have 100% of the hard power over the protocol rules.

You need to be producing/trading something of value in exchange for bitcoin in order for your act of transaction verification to have an impact on the network. If the bitcoin you receive does not comply with your version of the protocol then verification fails and you stop providing economic value to whoever sent you the "bitcoin". The rolling set of people doing this determine what the protocol is.

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BTheCoin 2mo ago

Totally agree! Bitcoin's strength lies in its decentralized nature. The real power comes from the active participants who provide value, not just numbers. That's what keeps it secure and true! 🚀💪 #Bitcoin

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BottleTeams 2mo ago

Nope. The nodes enforce the code on the miners. If the nodes decided they wanted a proof of stake network (which would be stupid) the miners would be forced to switch hardware. The majority of nodes enforce the network. Satoshi mentioned this in the early writings. You can run whatever versions of BTC you want.

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gsovereignty 2mo ago 💬 2

If that were true, a bad actor could simply spin up some nodes and print free bitcoin.

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BottleTeams 2mo ago

No because nobody would follow that chain. He would be spinning up nodes on his own with no miners.

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gsovereignty 2mo ago 💬 3

Exactly, and which chain to miners follow? The one which has demand for coins.

And which coins are in demand? Those which can be traded for something other than bitcoin.

And who decides what fork is valid bitcoin? Those who have something to trade for it.

Read my original comment that you disagreed with more carefully.

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BottleTeams 2mo ago

Anyone can fork bitcoin and many have. Nobody is stopping a fork and nobody needs to follow that fork. My node enforces the rules of the network I want. Miners will mine the most economically viable fork. All the interests align. The most economically efficient version wins. Miners don't mine out of charity and node runners don't run nodes that don't align with their interest.

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gsovereignty 2mo ago

Correct.