Author: Thomas Zander 2015-08-07 21:35:25
Published on: 2015-08-07T21:35:25+00:00
In an email conversation between Pieter Wuille and Thomas Zander on 7th August 2015, they discussed the importance of nodes in keeping Bitcoin secure from malicious influence. Wuille believed that the primary mechanism that keeps Bitcoin secure is the need for nodes to exist. However, Zander argued that the need for an individual to run a node is a different concept from the need for nodes to exist, which is the responsibility of the community. He stated that practically everyone trusts others with their money today, so not everyone needs to run a node. The need to run a node is inversely proportional to the ability (or willingness) to trust others. Zander suggested that the responsibility lies with the community to make it easier to run a node, but Wuille disagreed, stating that lowering the cost on a product won't make it sell more without the people wanting or needing the product. Wuille believes that if the impact of the system goes up, so should the joint incentives to keep it secure, and he thinks that the community is slowly failing at this. Zander deferred to Gavin's emails that countered this point better.
Updated on: 2023-06-10T18:22:17.825049+00:00