I do not have any qualms with the Bitcoin Foundation, as long as it does not inhibit the organic growth of the Bitcoin protocol. However, it seems increasingly likely that this will never be the case. As long as certain specific parties are funding Gavin's salary, they will have sway over development decisions and attempt to steer the direction of bitcoin. Unfortunately, it appears that they do not share many of the values of long time bitcoin proponents.
For example, consider the blurb retep shared with us in the recent "bitcoin regulation" thread:
The Bitcoin Foundation itself is in a difficult position: we all know who it's funded by, and everyone involved is publicly known. This can be a problem: in the last round of grant proposals at one point Gavin suggested someone submit a grant for a trust-free mixer service to help people make the coins in their wallet more anonymous by mixing them with a large pool of other users. I asked Gavin about that later, and he said the foundation lawyers nixed the idea because efforts to make Bitcoin users more anonymous could be seen to be aiding money laundering, especially if the foundation itself was paying for development and to run the servers.
We can work with regulators to make sure Bitcoin is acceptable to them. For instance we can ensure that it remains possible to track the flow of money through Bitcoin. We can also ensure that there are options if certain funds need to be frozen and blacklisted, due to fraud, theft, or because they encode illegal data. We can work with them to find ways to apply AML rules to Bitcoin transactions and to the exchanges. There are ways to put taxation into Bitcoin itself, so that taxes are automatically applied when a transaction is made. Maybe even one day we'll be required to prevent dangerous levels of deflation. A lot of these changes are technical, such as improving scalability so transactions can remain on the blockchain, developing P2P blacklist technologies, and preventing deflation.
To me, this is
clear evidence that we cannot trust the bitcoin foundation to pursue the best interests of the community. I find it extremely upsetting. I was under the impression that most here have no interest in playing nice with the status quo. To me, bitcoin is a non-violent method of doggedly routing around many barriers to innovation and freedom that currently weigh down on humanity. I may be naive, however I feel that those who stand in the way of the fullest realization of what bitcoin and similar innovations would bring about are short-sighted, close-minded, and disrespectful to the idea of true human liberty.
I am comforted by the fact that, in the long run, the battle to stop these type of developments is an impossible one. Still, I would prefer that change comes sooner rather than later.
I don't know about other TBF members but I won't be renewing my membership next year if the quote in this topic is true. If anything I can see the TBF forming a hard fork and trying to buy Gavin with them for legitimately.