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    The Consensus Conundrum
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    The Consensus Conundrum

    By James O'BeirneNovember 15, 2024No Comments8 Mins Read
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    The Consensus Conundrum

    Numerous consensus-change proposals for bitcoin are on the desk in the meanwhile. All of them have good motivations, whether or not it is scaling UTXO possession or making self-custody extra tractable. I received’t rehash them right here, you’re most likely already acquainted. Some have been actively developed for years.

    The previous two such modifications which were made to bitcoin efficiently, Segwit and Taproot, had been large engine-lift-style deployments fraught with drama. There have been smaller modifications in bitcoin’s previous, just like the introduction of locktimes, however for some motive the final two have been kitchen sink affairs.

    The fact not usually talked about by many bitcoin engineers is that up till Taproot, bitcoin’s consensus improvement was kind of working beneath a benevolent dictatorship mannequin. Undertaking management went from Satoshi to Gavin to… effectively, I’ll cease naming names.

    Core builders will probably quibble with this characterization, however everyone knows deep down that to a primary order approximation that it’s principally true. The “remaining say” and large concepts had been implicitly signed off on by one man, or perhaps a small oligarchy of wizened autists.

    In some ways there’s actually nothing fallacious with this – most (all?) main open supply tasks function equally with fairly clear management constructions. Oftentimes they’ve benevolent dictators who simply “make the decision” in instances of high-dimensional ambiguity. Everybody is aware of Guido and Linus and the primarily based Christian sqlite man.

    Bitcoin is aesthetically loath to this however the actuality, whether or not we prefer it or not, is that that is the way it labored up till about 2021.

    On condition that, there are three components that create the CONSENSUS CONUNDRUM going through bitcoin proper now:

    (1) The outdated benevolent dictators (or high-caste oligarchy) have abdicated their energy, leaving a vacuum that shifts the mission from “typical mode of operation” to “novel, never-before-tried” mode: an try at some sort of supposedly meritocratic leaderlessness.

    This alteration is coupled with the truth that

    (2) the potential design area for enhancements and issues to care about in bitcoin is broad open at this level. Would you like vaults? Or extra L2s? What about rollups? Or how a couple of generic computational instrument like CAT? Or ought to we bundle the generic issues with functions (CTV + VAULT) to verify they actually work?

    The issue is that each one of those are legitimate opinions. All of them have benefit, each by way of what to concentrate on and get to the tip aim. There actually isn’t a transparent “appropriate” design sample.

    (3) A remaining issue that makes this case toxic is that faithfully pursuing, fleshing out, constructing, “doing the work” of presenting a proposal IS REALLY REALLY TIME CONSUMPTIVE AND MIND MELTING.

    Getting the demos, specs, implementation, and “advertising and marketing” materials collectively is an extended grind that takes years of expertise with Core to even strategy.

    I used to be effectively paid to do that fulltime for years, and the method left me disgusted with the dysfunction and having little or no need to proceed contributing. I believe it is a frequent feeling.

    A associated delusion is that companies will do one thing analogous to help the method. The concept companies will construct on potential forks is fairly laughable. Most bitcoin corporations have a ton on their backlog, are combating for survival, and have principally nobody devoted to R&D. The have a tough sufficient time integrating options that really make it in.

    Most of the ones who do have the finances for R&D are shitcoin factories that don’t care about bitcoin-specific upgrades.

    I’ve labored for among the uncommon corporations that care about bitcoin and do have the cash for this type of R&D, and even then the assets aren’t adequate to construct a critical product demo on high of 1 of N speculative softforks which will by no means occur.

    —

    This sort of scenario is why human techniques evolve management hierarchies. Typically, to progress in a scenario like this somebody must be ready to say “alright, after due consideration we’re doing X.”

    After all what makes this appear intractable is that the Bitcoin mythology dictates (rightly) that clear management hierarchies are the way you wind up, within the restrict, with the Fed.

    Positive, bitcoin can simply by no means change once more in any significant means (“ossify”). However at this level that just about definitely resigns it to one more monetary product that may solely be accessed with the good thing about a big establishment.

    In case you grant that bitcoin ought to most likely hold tightening its guidelines for extra and higher performance, however that we must always go “sluggish and regular,” I believe there are points with that too.

    As a result of one other issue that isn’t talked about is that as bitcoin rises in value, and as nation-states begin shopping for in dimension, the principles can be more durable to vary. So inaction — not deciding — is definitely a really consequential resolution.

    I have no idea how this resolves.

    —

    There’s one other uncomfortable topic I wish to contact on: the place the ability truly lies.

    The present mechanism for altering bitcoin hinges on what Core builders will merge. This after all isn’t official coverage, but it surely’s the unintended actuality.

    Different much less technically savvy actors (like miners and exchanges) have to select some indicator to concentrate to that tells them what modifications are secure and when they’re coming. They’ve little capability or curiosity to dimension these items up for themselves, or do the event essential to determine them out.

    My Core colleagues will bristle at this characterization. They’ll say “we’re simply janitors! we simply merge what has consensus!” And so they’re not being disingenuous in saying that. However they’re additionally not acknowledging that traditionally, that’s how consensus modifications have operated.

    That is one thing that everybody is aware of semi-consciously however doesn’t actually wish to personal.

    Core devs saying “sure” and clicking merge has been a needed precursor each time. And proper now not one of the Core devs are taking note of the comfortable fork conversations – kind of comprehensible, there’s a bunch to do in bitcoin.

    However let’s be sincere right here, lots of the work occurring in Core has been kind of secondary to bitcoin’s realization.

    Mempool work is fascinating, however the entire mannequin is kind of the other way up anyway as a result of it’s primarily based on altruism. For-profit darkpools and accelerators appear inevitable to me, though that may very well be argued. A lot of the mempool work is rooted in assist for Lightning, which is fairly clearly not going to resolve the scaling drawback.

    Positive, encrypted P2P connections are nice, however what’s even the purpose if we will’t get on-chain possession to a stage past basically requiring using an trade, ecash mint, sidechain, or another trusted third celebration?

    My important criticism is that Core has developed an ivory tower mindset that kind of sneers at individuals piatching long-run consensus stuff as an alternative of making an attempt to really interact with the laborious issues.

    And that would have bitcoin fall in need of its potential.

    —

    I don’t know what the answer to any of that is. I do know that self-custody is completely nervewracking and principally out of the query for informal customers, and I do know that bitcoin in its present kind is not going to scale to twice-monthly quantity for even 10% of the US, not to mention many of the world.

    The individuals who don’t acknowledge this, and who wish to spend essential time and vitality wallowing within the mire of proposing the right remix of CTV, are making a fateful selection.

    A lot of the longstanding, absolutely specified fork proposals lively as we speak are completely high quality, and conceptually they’d be nice additions to bitcoin.

    Hell, most likely a better block dimension is secure given options like compactblocks and assumeutxo and finally utreexo. However that’s one other put up for an additional day.

    —

    I’ve gone forwards and backwards about writing a put up like this, as a result of I haven’t got any concrete prescriptions or suggestions. I assume I can solely hope that citing these uncomfortable observations is a few distant precursor to creating progress on scaling self-custody.

    All of those opinions have most likely been expressed by @JeremyRubin years in the past in his weblog. I’m simply uninterested in biting my tongue.

    Because of @rot13maxi and @MsHodl for suggestions on drafts of this.

    This can be a visitor put up by James O’Beirne. Opinions expressed are totally their very own and don’t essentially mirror these of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Journal.



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