Post
Topic
Board Bitcoin Discussion
Re: Bitcoin 20MB Fork
by
solex
on 08/03/2015, 23:19:58 UTC
Gavin's GigaBloat proposal calls for 95% support, which is far less than what the poll here reports.

The poll reads that opinion is 80% in support or "relatively OK" with the change. Only 20% is firmly against. This is the same proportion as 2 years ago. So it looks like this ratio will never change. Has any project, organization or community ever functioned long term with 95% support for every major decision? No!

What is most insidious about the 1MB limit is that this is software which has not yet had a significant effect. If it never existed then maybe the blockchain would be 41GB instead of 40GB in size (because a few dozen extra large blocks might have been mined and built upon). So basicially the situation is this:

1) Increase the 1MB limit = keep Bitcoin working the same as it is now.

2) Keep the 1MB limit = perform a radical economic experiment on Bitcoin.

Both 1 and 2 have risks for decentralization, perhaps 2 more so, as a lot of full node owners have bought into the ideal of a global currency and payments system, which would be put at grave risk if the radical experiment goes wrong.

Fortunately most people want it to keep it working how it is now.