Author: Gareth Williams 2014-04-26 12:15:19
Published on: 2014-04-26T12:15:19+00:00
This conversation between Mike Hearn and Gareth shows that the thing that protects bitcoin from confiscation is a strong group consensus, not proof of work. They discuss changing the rules for interpreting data in the blockchain to make it more useful, which would require strong consensus. Changing the number of bitcoins to represent transactions is one way to do this, but it wouldn't be a violation of the social contract since 21 million is arbitrary. The conversation highlights the importance of following a simple set of mathematical rules to prevent theft, rather than relying on human judgments. While allowing for flexibility in combating fraud, such a system would not be true Bitcoin.
Updated on: 2023-06-08T20:54:50.677647+00:00