What is the ideological dispute between small blocks and large blocks?

Chapter 0 Introduction

The Bitcoin block size dispute has been going on for more than two years, and there is still no result. So what are people arguing about? Yesterday, someone made a summary on reddit/r/btc. I translated it and added some common disagreements in the Chinese community.

Chapter 1 Small Blocks vs. Large Blocks

Small Blocks vs Large Blocks

1. Bitcoin transaction fees do not require consensus to determine (Translator's note: everyone determines the transaction fee through bidding ranking). VS All economic activities are achieved by consensus.

2. Blocks are already too big, and running a full node is too expensive. VS costs are not constant, and fees are already too high.

3. Everyone should be able to run a full node. Only cheapskates would demand that a full node be run using only cheap hardware.

4. Only a cheapskate would ask for lower transaction fees. VS should allow as many people as possible to use Bitcoin, so the fees need to be lower.

5. Because soft forks do not require consensus, soft forks are better. VS Hard forks require consensus, so hard forks are better.

6. No controversial consensus changes allowed. VS Free market leads to consensus changes.

7. Minority developers and miners have veto power vs majority decision.

8. Splits are dangerous. VS Splits are the result of market voting.

9. A contentious hard fork will result in a split. VS Hard fork risk is controllable/designable.

10. Miners have no power to control consensus changes. VS miners are representatives of economic interests and they can vote.

11. Soft forks only require consensus among developers. VS Soft forks have a greater impact on the economy, so consensus is required.

12. Bitcoin does not need to be expanded, and can be achieved using off-chain solutions, such as the Lightning Network. VS Bitcoin can be expanded on-chain, at least the potential of software and hardware technology should be utilized as much as possible.

13. Using a hard fork to increase the block limit means that the value of 21 million bitcoins may also be changed. VS Without a hard fork, the development and economy of Bitcoin will stagnate.

The above is a summary of netizens on reddit/r/btc. The original link is here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/5c935w/anyone_want_to_weigh_in_on_this_im_trying_to/

Let me add a few more points.

Chapter 2 Supplement

1. The soft fork code is too complex and has too many potential vulnerabilities. VS the hard fork code is concise.

2. The soft fork code is too complicated, which makes it more difficult for subsequent developers to understand and the developers will be centralized. VS The hard fork code is concise, the technical documentation is clearer, and it is easier for subsequent developers to get started.

3. The future of Bitcoin is a settlement network, which does not require many on-chain transactions. VS The future of Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, where currency is consensus, and only when enough people use on-chain transactions can Bitcoin become a widely used currency.

4. Bitcoin is a value-preserving asset like gold. The transaction cost of gold is high, so the transaction fee of Bitcoin can also be high. VS Bitcoin is still a niche user product. Only when more users use it can it have the opportunity to become a value-preserving asset like gold.

5. The Core development team is awesome, we should trust them. VS Core development team is hurting Bitcoin, it is the Core development team that is causing the community to split, we need to develop decentralization.

6. Bitcoin should be anonymous in the future. VS Bitcoin should keep the main chain as a public ledger in the future.

7. Large blocks will lead to zero transaction fees, which will result in no income for miners in the future and a decrease in computing power. VS The free market will not lead to zero transaction fees. The market will find a reasonable transaction fee so that users and miners can achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.

8. Hard forks damage the principle of blockchain immutability. VS Hard forks are just a way to upgrade the protocol and are neutral. Soft forks can also change the blockchain and are no better than hard forks in this regard.

Chapter 3 Conclusion

Please continue to add.