Coinbase CEO wants to replace /r/Bitcoin moderator Theymos, but is bitten back by Cobra

Bitcoin XT is a software that hard forks the Bitcoin blockchain to increase block capacity. It was maintained by former Bitcoin developer Mike Hearn. Since the release of Bitcoin XT, the management of the /r/Bitcoin subreddit has been a hot topic in the community. Some people believe that /r/Bitcoin deletes user comments and posts due to its strict censorship system, while others believe that /r/Bitcoin moderators handle posts as part of the forum management work.

There is another Bitcoin forum on Reddit, /r/btc, which was founded by Bitcoin Jesus Roger Ver and others. They were dissatisfied with the atmosphere in /r/Bitcoin after the release of Bitcoin XT. Of course, everyone has their own preferences, and both sides have their own supporters.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman recently met with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to discuss the removal of /r/Bitcoin moderators and the use of Bitcoin on Reddit.

Armstrong and /r/Bitcoin have a long-standing feud

Armstrong and /r/Bitcoin have had a long history of feuding. In 2015, Armstrong posted a post on /r/Bitcoin saying that Coinbase was testing Bitcoin XT, but the post was ruthlessly deleted. This is actually in line with /r/Bitcoin’s “moderator guidelines”:

Without community consensus, it is prohibited to promote software clients that attempt to modify the Bitcoin protocol in the forum.

A month ago, Armstrong unfollowed /r/Bitcoin and switched to /r/btc.

Armstrong told Huffman: I have emailed /r/Bitcoin a few times about this, but censorship is still there. If you want to block the account of the /r/Bitcoin moderator, I can tell you that his username is Theymos.

Replace Subreddit Moderators

After telling Huffman about his experience on /r/Bitcoin, Armstrong asked if Reddit had considered reselecting moderators.

Huffman replied: At that time, we established this system only from the perspective of product management and did not think about its long-term impact.

Huffman said that Reddit is an open and free social platform, and the behavior of some subreddits moderators is contrary to the original intention of Reddit.

This happens a lot in the Bitcoin community. I agree with your point. But unless they violate the rules of the site, we will not intervene easily. We have also thought a lot about the censorship issue. But wouldn't it be better to let the community handle things like re-election of moderators?

Huffman believes that Reddit's governance model is very similar to the American political system. Reddit is the federal government, and subreddits are the states under the federal government.

Cobra proposes to delist Coinbase

Meanwhile, the Bitcoin GitHub forum has also been caught in a censorship vortex, and yes, you heard it right, Cobra-Bitcoin has gotten involved again. The content of this debate revolves around Coinbase, and whether Coinbase should be removed from Bitcoin.org? Apparently, Coinbase leaders have been making "wrong decisions" and "trying to belittle Bitcoin."

Like Satoshi Nakamoto, Cobra-Bitcoin has never revealed his true identity to the Bitcoin community, but he has a good relationship with Theymos, the moderator of /r/Bitcoin. Since Coinbase has repeatedly "betrayed" Bitcoin Core recently, Cobra-Bitcoi suggested that it be removed from the Bitcoin.org website.

Since the block size expansion dispute began, Coinbase has been a loyal supporter of Bitcoin XT and Bitcoin Classic. Recently, its exchange has even launched Ethereum (although it is a purely commercial decision). Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has publicly stated that Ethereum has a good chance of surpassing Bitcoin, which has made many community members unhappy.

But Cobra-Bitcoin's suggestion is more like self-interest than Coinbase's own fault. Political behavior is not allowed in the Bitcoin ecosystem, but such incidents still occur frequently.

In fact, Coinbase has made great contributions to the Bitcoin community. Coinbase was founded very early, and at the beginning of Bitcoin development, it brought a large number of new users to the community. We should not forget these. No one can erase Coinbase's achievements simply because it did not do enough homework in politics.

At present, some people support the Cobra-Bitcoin proposal, while others despise it. There are still many problems that the Bitcoin community needs to solve (such as block capacity), and there is no need to spend time on boring proposals.