I'm joined by guests [Harry Sudock]( https://twitter.com/harry_sudock ), [Aaron van Wirdum]( https://twitter.com/AaronvanW ) and Adam Gibson to discuss the power dynamics in Bitcoin.
**Discussion Topics:**
* 00:02:41 The Mexican stand off conceptualisation of the power dynamics within Bitcoin
* 00:04:19 Are developers part of the game theory?
* 00:21:57 The power dynamics involved in changing Bitcoin
* 00:33:39 The role of prediction markets in determining consensus
* 00:43:01 Can Bitcoin development be corrupted?
* 00:46:26 Corruption factors invovled in chain forks
* 00:53:39 Bitcoin's resistance to change
* 00:57:12 Bitcoin vs gold and considerations surrounding resistance to human interference
* 01:03:19 Perspectives on changing Bitcoin
* 01:04:41 Controversial changes (Tapscript)
* 01:07:16 What properties of Bitcoin are changeable?
* 01:15:18 How do you defin the "true" Bitcoin?
* 01:23:53 Forking as means of achieving market consensus
* 01:27:14 Politcs and getting buy-in for controversial changes
* 01:32:40 Why change Bitcoin?
* 01:34:55 Historic examples of contentious changes
* 01:38:11 Contextualising developer influence on Bitcoin
* 01:41:05 Contentious non-consensus changes (RBF)
* 01:45:12 Game theory involved in conflicts between users and miners
* 01:55:53 Mitigating against short term incentives with long term risks
* 01:59:39 Bitcoin: There is no alternative
* 02:01:55 Off-chain considerations
**Links & Contacts:**
* Website: https://bitcoin.review/Podcast
* Twitter: https://twitter.com/bitcoinreviewhq
* NVK Twitter: https://twitter.com/nvk
* Telegram: https://t.me/BitcoinReviewPod
* Email: producer@coinkite.com
* Nostr & LN:âš¡nvk@nvk.org (not an email!)
_**Full show notes: https://bitcoin.review/podcast/episode-21/**_