Author: Jeff Garzik 2013-06-27 17:30:21
Published on: 2013-06-27T17:30:21+00:00
In June 2013 Jim, the creator of MultiBit, proposed that MultiBit should be the default desktop client on the bitcoin.org "Choose your wallet" page. This was due to the fact that MultiBit had added encrypted wallets, sign and verify message functionality, stability improvements and bug fixes. Jim believed that MultiBit was now suitable for entry level Bitcoin users as they could get it up and running quickly. Jeff Garzik, a Senior Software Engineer and open source evangelist at BitPay, responded to this proposal by providing arguments both in favor and against moving away from Bitcoin-Qt/bitcoind for wallet services. Arguments in favor of moving away from Bitcoin-Qt/bitcoind were that it is a very simple wallet, its core strengths lie more in being a P2P router for public blockchain data, wallet feature innovation moves more slowly than other clients such as Armory/bitcoinj/blockchain.info, and it requires the full blockchain which is resource-intensive versus SPV. Arguments in favor of retaining Bitcoin-Qt/bitcoind default were that there is more field experience, code review and testing on desktop than others and there is a very real possibility of an overall net reduction of full nodes on P2P network. Arguments in favor of multibit default were that it has a good user interface and is perhaps more friendly for entry level users as described by Jim. Multibit is based on bitcoinj which has field experience and a very large installed base thanks to Bitcoin Wallet/Schildbach. Arguments against multibit default were that there is less testing and field experience on desktop.
Updated on: 2023-06-06T19:29:59.296511+00:00