The Bitcoin ‘Scaling Debate’

This is a good place to start if you don’t know much about ‘the scaling debate’. John Dilley’s arguments are well made, succinct and cover many topics. Don’t be put off by who he’s debating, it remains civil and constructive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=327&v=mauPP0DRtOM

Topics John Dilley covers:

  • Zero confirmation transactions
  • Scaling Bitcoin exponentially with Lightning network
  • Benefits of Segwit
  • Moral hazard of Hard v Soft fork
  • SPV clients
  • Bitcoin roadmap
  • Block size, trust characteristics and the importance of self validation

This discussion between Peter Todd (the second half of the interview) and Gavin Andresen is also worth a listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=KYWhShzzELg

UASF and SW2X

For understanding what “UASF” (User Accepted Soft Fork/BIP 148), “SW2X” (Segwit 2X) and the “NO2X” movement were about, I suggest this video in which John Carvalho passionately lays out the case for UASF and why SW2X was (ultimately) destined to fail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1528&v=f1c7fvTEvFk

The @BitcoinErrorLog & @brian_trollz interview gives insight into some misguided reasons why some backed SW2X…

“They [core] are not like a company that’s making decisions…” - John Carvalho

“You’re right, and that’s the problem here” - Vinny Lingham

There was a lot of ‘signalling’ and various paths to activation for Segwit, along with a couple of potential hard forks at the time. I explained the details of those in the articles below, presented in the order in which they were publised.

Explaining Segwit2X and BIP 148 (UASF) compatibility

The Road to Segwit Activation — UASF, Segwit2x and Segwit Signalling Explained

Explaining the Segwit2x Hard Fork and Bitmain’s UAHF

All roads lead to Segwit — Segwit2x, BIP 91 Segsignal and UASF

Random Stuff

The Times 3rd January 2019

Example Jekyll Markdown

In Big Hero 6 they find a teleportation device. To demonstrate its power, someone throws a hat into one portal and it reappears from the other. “WOW!… a magic hat!” someone says.

Thinking Bitcoin was designed primarily to be a cheap payment system is “magic hat” thinking. Bitcoin is a network protocol used by a decentralised group of people. Users who run Bitcoin nodes enforce and protect the monetary policy of the protocol that stores their wealth. What they collectively agree on as being Bitcoin is what defines consensus within the network. Their nodes try and automate the rules they want Bitcoin to adhere to.

Today’s low Bitcoin fees wont be here forever, neither should they be. The fees you pay allow you to store wealth in the most secure, decentralised form of money there has ever been. Fees are what will fund the network’s security as time goes on. Add Lightning Network on top of Bitcoin and you get a magic hat trick thrown in for free! 😉