what i don't get is why isn't Gavin moving to increase block size now as opposed to when we're in the middle of the next bubble or two when tx size will have surely increased along with price and his back is against the wall?
he's already shown a reticence to not make changes to the protocol. not that i'm complaining, mind you, as i think he's done a stellar job as lead dev. but at that point, it may be such a political hot potato that nothing may get done at all.
It may be the case that we don't get any protocol improvements until Bitcoin Core loses its monopoly on the full node network.
i don't see that ever happening as long as Gavin remains lead dev. there's no one even close to him that has the political capital, trust, or good will he has generated.