Author: Dave Scotese 2015-08-08 16:54:04
Published on: 2015-08-08T16:54:04+00:00
Bitcoin is a payment system that removes the need for authority, not trust. The main selling point of Bitcoin is removing the need for physical presence when making payments. However, when using Bitcoin to pay someone, trust is still necessary. It replaces trust in a single body with trust in a majority, which should be healthy and varied. This makes it difficult for any single body to become the coercive authority that everyone has to trust. A person can easily find a different single body to trust or even stop trusting one body and trust the majority instead. The philosophical foundation of Bitcoin is ultimately the basis of its value.The need for an individual to run a node is separate from the need for nodes to exist. Bitcoin security requires a reasonable portion of economic interest to validate the receipt of coins against a full node they run. Many power users and Bitcoin ecosystem companies run nodes to avoid losing money and check their coin receipts with higher assurance. Trusting miners or random full nodes would be unsafe without a reasonable portion of economic interest validating their received coins. Bitcoin's reason for existence is to avoid the need to trust others with one's money. The impact of the Bitcoin system should increase the joint incentives to keep it secure. However, this is currently failing, according to some individuals. Some people trust others with their money and may not find Bitcoin as interesting. Dave offers his tech services for free and owns Litmocracy and Meme Racing. He is also the webmaster for The Voluntaryist, which now accepts Bitcoin.
Updated on: 2023-06-10T18:22:07.350813+00:00