Author: Luv Khemani 2017-03-30 07:11:21
Published on: 2017-03-30T07:11:21+00:00
Home users who do not run their own full nodes have to rely on more powerful nodes, which may have different opinions and objectives from the users. However, node users decide what a Bitcoin is, and full nodes protect them from changes to any properties of Bitcoin that they don't agree with. This power for users is crucial as it maintains monetary sovereignty and prevents miners from rewriting any of Bitcoin's rules. The ability for a user to run a node keeps miners honest. The market stores billions of dollars in Bitcoin because it is useful for everyday transactions, a problem already solved by cash and Visa. Increasing transaction fees might allow competitors to gain market share for low-value use cases. Lightning potentially offers a couple of orders of magnitude scaling, making block size a non-issue for years to come. Even if it fails to live up to the hype, innovating solutions could be found when there is money to be made.
Updated on: 2023-06-11T22:46:01.999264+00:00