Quote from: fabianji on February 27, 2018, 01:23:55 AM

With the 0.16.0 version of the Bitcoin Core we are finally getting SegWit as the most notable upgrade but also the in 0.15.0 implemented "replace-by-fee" tag (to get stuck or slow transaction moving by adding extra mining fees) now set as default. The introduction the bench32 address format is probably the most critical for day-to-day interaction though as it affects compatibility with other wallets.

What are your feeling towards the most recent upgrade?

I think those are great additions, I especially like bech32 addressing though I recognize it will take a long time before their use is commonplace. The BIP-0173 that describes bech32 is really a great example of a standard that takes into account the real-world considerations of an addressing scheme (QR scannability, mixed case, etc.). I hope bech32 is more widely implemented ASAP, including on other cryptocurrencies, especially ones based on BTC addressing. Having a human-readable prefix that clearly differentiates between various crypto assets is a great boost to usability as Bitcoin adoption grows to less technically savvy people.

Replace by fee is a great attribute to have enabled by default in Core. I've never had to use that, but I think it may have more utility in a world where mining effort is flipped between competing currencies based on which one delivers the best ROI at a given moment. Which is selfish, in my view, but I do understand that from a business perspective.

Bitcoin Core's approach to incremental improvements in the reference client and underlying protocol is in my view the best approach to take. When dealing with significant sums of money, every change should be subject to careful deliberation. Bitcoin, as the first and largest cryptocurrency, also has an added responsibility to avoid missteps that could inflict larger harm on the overall crypto asset community. That is a consideration I keep closely in mind because I know that legacy finance would have a field day with any issue. Given that, frankly I am very surprised to see them all bandied around the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. I don't know what to make of that organization. I have concerns about Ethereum's stability and clearly demonstrated violations of immutability. I suppose these can be overcome if enough effort were put into improving these things, though immutability concerns will remain. Then again, some of these large legacy financial institutions probably like the idea of being able to rewind the clock.

I don't.

Best regards,
Ben