Is Technological Centralization Destroying Bitcoin?

Initially, from the perspective of the visual, this is an absolutely praiseworthy story. Satoshi Nakamoto's departure is the beginning of the story. He took the concept of Bitcoin decentralization to the extreme. With the emergence of the Bitcoin core development team CORE, the story is getting closer and closer to reality.

In 2010 , Satoshi Nakamoto left, and Bitcoin maintainers who were keen on Bitcoin technology formed the Bitcoin core development team CORE. Subsequently, conflicts arose within the core development team, leading to a split. Blockstream, a commercial company that mainly researches side chains, hired core members of the Bitcoin development team. So far, the core development team has not been able to reach a consensus with the market on the direction of Bitcoin expansion, and has been caught in a protracted battle.

The expansion of Bitcoin is due to the limitation of block size. The original block capacity can no longer meet the transfer transaction needs of existing users. The block capacity must be increased to enable the long-term development of Bitcoin. This is also an unavoidable problem in the development of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a technology-driven product and plays an important role in the development of Bitcoin. Similarly, the Bitcoin code is open source, and anyone can participate in the maintenance of the Bitcoin protocol. The CORE team has been maintaining the Bitcoin protocol for a long time and has established authority in the community. They are considered to be the people closest to Bitcoin. 1M+SW is the solution proposed by the Bitcoin core development team CORE on the issue of Bitcoin expansion. They believe that Bitcoin can be forked more gently. Simply put, due to the congestion of the Bitcoin network, CORE developed the Lightning Network, with the aim of placing congested transactions on the sidechain Lightning Network, while the size of the main chain remains unchanged. This approach has been denied by most people, especially the domestic community. "Instead of using the main chain, the side chain is used. Isn't this equivalent to using a pager on a mobile phone?"

As an economic system, the current development of Bitcoin is no longer at a stage where technology can control the overall situation. This contradiction has been fully exposed. In order to solve the problem of market demand and ensure that Bitcoin will continue to be a free currency in the future, Bitcoin must go beyond the technical level, integrate into the economic market, and bring due value. Bitcoin was born and developed as an electronic cash system, not to highlight the spirit of geek technology innovation, and the reason why people accept Bitcoin is not because they understand the code. If Bitcoin cannot jump out of the technical circle, then it is destined to be a self-entertainment product for a few people.

In addition, for developers, they have long lacked an incentive mechanism. Their main purpose in maintaining the Bitcoin protocol is to realize their own value. As Bitcoin gradually realizes its economic value, developers also have the right to enjoy the economic benefits brought by its development. The core members of the Bitcoin development team are employed by Blockstream, which has a monopoly on the SW+LN network. The CORE team is likely to incorporate the purpose of achieving economic returns into the technical means in which it excels.

The CORE team may be treating Bitcoin as an experiment for their technological innovation. Their technological improvement is to consolidate their rights at the technical level. CORE believes that no other team's technical theory can be compared with theirs. Ideas that can be compared with them will be labeled as "immature". If Bitcoin implements the SW of the CORE team, perhaps this is just the beginning, a brief history of the development of technological centralization, and the birth of a team that controls Bitcoin.

But the reality is that Bitcoin is not a child raised on technological food.