Defending The Undefendable: The Censoring Miner
My latest from nostr:npub1t8a7uumfmam38kal4xaakzyjccht4y5jxfs4cmlj0p768pxtwu8skh56yu
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/markets/defending-the-undefendable-the-censoring-miner
Discussion
What do prostitutes, blackmailers, slumlords, and Bitcoin miners who censor transactions all have in common? What if I told you that they are modern-day heroes of the free market economy, bravely providing their economic services despite facing universal scorn and outlawry?
This issue is fundamentally an issue of property rights, specifically the property rights of the individual who is constructing block templates. While many people would construct blocks based purely on financial profit, aiming to maximize fees, it's crucial to note that there are more motivations than this. Moreover, this approach isn't a mandatory consensus requirement within the protocol. An individual may construct a block based on the expected social or psychological profit from their decision. For instance, regarding Inscriptions, one might opt to exclude them from Bitcoin and take steps to censor those transactions from their block template. If enough of the market agrees it could effectively lead to them being deactivated. In a broader sense, someone may act benevolently by crafting a block template that prioritizes low-fee transactions, aiding financially disadvantaged individuals in confirming their transactions on the base layer chain.
Bitcoin is built on the principles of free association, and market incentives pushing people into a consensus arising out of that free association between participants. People seem to have forgotten that.
Excellent read! I just don't know how people rationalize away freedom for the sake of "morality." As if that is moral.