The Consensus Conundrum

A batch of consensus-change proposals for bitcoin are connected the array astatine the moment. All of them person bully motivations, whether it's scaling UTXO ownership oregon making self-custody much tractable. I won’t rehash them here, you’re astir apt already familiar. Some person been actively developed for years.

The past 2 specified changes that person been made to bitcoin successfully, Segwit and Taproot, were monolithic engine-lift-style deployments fraught with drama. There person been smaller changes successful bitcoin’s past, similar the instauration of locktimes, but for immoderate crushed the past 2 person been room descend affairs.

The world not often talked astir by galore bitcoin engineers is that up until Taproot, bitcoin’s statement improvement was much oregon little operating nether a benevolent dictatorship model. Project enactment went from Satoshi to Gavin to… well, I’ll halt naming names.

Core developers volition apt quibble with this characterization, but we each cognize heavy down that to a archetypal bid approximation that it’s fundamentally true. The “final say” and large ideas were implicitly signed disconnected connected by 1 guy, oregon possibly a tiny oligarchy of wizened autists.

In galore ways there’s truly thing incorrect with this - astir (all?) large unfastened root projects run likewise with beauteous wide enactment structures. Oftentimes they person benevolent dictators who conscionable “make the call” successful times of high-dimensional ambiguity. Everyone knows Guido and Linus and the based Christian sqlite guy.

Bitcoin is aesthetically loath to this but the reality, whether we similar it oregon not, is that this is however it worked up until astir 2021.

Given that, determination are 3 factors that make the CONSENSUS CONUNDRUM facing bitcoin close now:

(1) The aged benevolent dictators (or high-caste oligarchy) person abdicated their power, leaving a vacuum that shifts the task from “conventional mode of operation” to “novel, never-before-tried” mode: an effort astatine immoderate benignant of supposedly meritocratic leaderlessness.

This alteration is coupled with the information that

(2) the imaginable plan abstraction for improvements and things to attraction astir successful bitcoin is wide unfastened astatine this point. Do you privation vaults? Or much L2s? What astir rollups? Or however astir a generic computational instrumentality similar CAT? Or should we bundle the generic things with applications (CTV + VAULT) to marque definite they truly work?

The occupation is that each of these are valid opinions. They each person merit, some successful presumption of what to absorption connected and however to get to the extremity goal. There truly isn’t a wide “correct” plan pattern.

(3) A last origin that makes this concern poisonous is that faithfully pursuing, fleshing out, building, “doing the work” of presenting a connection IS REALLY REALLY TIME CONSUMPTIVE AND MIND MELTING.

Getting the demos, specs, implementation, and "marketing" worldly unneurotic is simply a agelong grind that takes years of acquisition with Core to adjacent approach.

I was good paid to bash this fulltime for years, and the process near maine disgusted with the dysfunction and having precise small tendency to proceed contributing. I deliberation this is simply a communal feeling.

A related story is that businesses volition bash thing analogous to assistance the process. The thought that businesses volition physique connected prospective forks is beauteous laughable. Most bitcoin companies person a ton connected their backlog, are warring for survival, and person fundamentally nary 1 dedicated to R&D. The person a hard capable clip integrating features that really marque it in.

Many of the ones who bash person the fund for R&D are shitcoin factories that don’t attraction astir bitcoin-specific upgrades.

I’ve worked for immoderate of the uncommon companies that attraction astir bitcoin and bash person the wealth for this benignant of R&D, and adjacent past the resources are not capable to physique a superior merchandise demo connected apical of 1 of N speculative softforks that whitethorn ne'er happen.

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This benignant of concern is wherefore quality systems germinate enactment hierarchies. In general, to advancement successful a concern similar this idiosyncratic needs to beryllium successful a presumption to accidental “alright, aft owed information we’re doing X.”

Of people what makes this look intractable is that the Bitcoin mythology dictates (rightly) that wide enactment hierarchies are however you upwind up, successful the limit, with the Fed.

Sure, bitcoin tin conscionable ne'er alteration again successful immoderate meaningful mode ("ossify"). But astatine this constituent that astir surely resigns it to yet different fiscal merchandise that tin lone beryllium accessed with the payment of a ample institution.

If you assistance that bitcoin should astir apt support tightening its rules for much and amended functionality, but that we should spell "slow and steady," I deliberation determination are issues with that too.

Because different origin that isn’t talked astir is that arsenic bitcoin rises successful price, and arsenic nation-states commencement buying successful size, the rules volition beryllium harder to change. So inaction — not deciding — is really a precise consequential decision.

I bash not cognize however this resolves.

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There’s different uncomfortable taxable I privation to interaction on: wherever the powerfulness really lies.

The existent mechanics for changing bitcoin hinges connected what Core developers volition merge. This of people isn’t authoritative policy, but it’s the unintended reality.

Other little technically savvy actors (like miners and exchanges) person to prime immoderate indicator to wage attraction to that tells them what changes are harmless and erstwhile they are coming. They person small quality oregon involvement to size these things up for themselves, oregon bash the improvement indispensable to fig them out.

My Core colleagues volition bristle astatine this characterization. They’ll accidental “we’re conscionable janitors! we conscionable merge what has consensus!” And they’re not being disingenuous successful saying that. But they’re besides not acknowledging that historically, that is however statement changes person operated.

This is thing that everyone knows semi-consciously but doesn’t truly privation to own.

Core devs saying “yes” and clicking merge has been a indispensable precursor each time. And close present nary of the Core devs are paying attraction to the brushed fork conversations - benignant of understandable, there’s a clump to bash successful bitcoin.

But let’s beryllium honorable here, a batch of the enactment happening successful Core has been benignant of secondary to bitcoin’s realization.

Mempool enactment is interesting, but the full exemplary is much oregon little upside down anyhow due to the fact that it’s based connected altruism. For-profit darkpools and accelerators look inevitable to me, though that could beryllium argued. Much of the mempool enactment is rooted successful enactment for Lightning, which is beauteous evidently not going to lick the scaling problem.

Sure, encrypted P2P connections are great, but what’s adjacent the constituent if we can’t get on-chain ownership to a level beyond fundamentally requiring the usage of an exchange, ecash mint, sidechain, oregon immoderate different trusted 3rd party?

My main ailment is that Core has developed an ivory operation mindset that much oregon little sneers astatine radical piatching long-run statement worldly alternatively of trying to really prosecute with the hard problems.

And that could person bitcoin autumn abbreviated of its potential.

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I don’t cognize what the solution to immoderate of this is. I bash cognize that self-custody is wholly nervewracking and fundamentally retired of the question for casual users, and I bash cognize that bitcoin successful its existent signifier volition not standard to twice-monthly measurement for adjacent 10% of the US, fto unsocial astir of the world.

The radical who don’t admit this, and who privation to walk captious clip and vigor wallowing successful the mire of proposing the cleanable remix of CTV, are making a fateful choice.

Most of the longstanding, afloat specified fork proposals progressive contiguous are wholly fine, and conceptually they’d beryllium large additions to bitcoin.

Hell, astir apt a higher artifact size is harmless fixed features similar compactblocks and assumeutxo and yet utreexo. But that’s different station for different day.

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I've gone backmost and distant astir penning a station similar this, due to the fact that I don't person immoderate factual prescriptions oregon recommendations. I conjecture I tin lone anticipation that bringing up these uncomfortable observations is immoderate distant precursor to making advancement connected scaling self-custody.

All of these opinions person astir apt been expressed by @JeremyRubin years agone successful his blog. I’m conscionable bushed of biting my tongue.

Thanks to @rot13maxi and @MsHodl for feedback connected drafts of this.

This is simply a impermanent station by James O'Beirne. Opinions expressed are wholly their ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of BTC Inc oregon Bitcoin Magazine.