Expansion is not as serious as you think

Is it necessary to expand to 2M now?

I remember when XT was being strongly promoted, Gavin said that if there was no expansion, the problem would be so serious. As a result, there is still no expansion today, but there is no problem, right? I remembered a sentence, I don’t remember who said it, but the general idea is that most of the things you worry about will never happen. So, I don’t think that if there is no expansion, Bitcoin will not have any major problems. At most, the price of the currency will not rise, which is not a big deal. We are all prepared to hold it for 10 years, not fighting for the day.

In fact, I strongly recommend not to expand to 2M now, because I want to see what will happen when the block is full. This kind of block full situation has never been seen before, and it is a good opportunity for everyone to see whether the consequences are as serious as Gavin said. I don’t think it will be that serious. Gavin is just sensationalizing to win everyone’s support for XT. If the block is full, Bitcoin will die, and then it will have no vitality, and it is not a pity to die.

Power and responsibility

In the debate over capacity expansion, the term I hear most often is “code centralization.” In fact, power and responsibility are closely linked in any matter. For example, for miners, computing power is power, but computing power is also responsibility, and they bear the responsibility of maintaining the security of the Bitcoin network. Similarly, the maintenance of the Bitcoin code seems to be power, but in fact it is also a responsibility.

Even if the code is centralized, it is the result of everyone's inaction. We don't maintain the code and we don't take more responsibility. Then we have no say at critical moments. This is a universal rule. So, there is nothing much to say. If you have any opinions, you can pay more attention to the maintenance of the code or donate some money to the core developers. Otherwise, even if they insist on not expanding the capacity for the benefit of the company, we really have nothing to say. At least I personally have no complaints.

Of course, I still reserve the right to vote with my feet and leave at any time. However, at present, I do not think there is a problem with Core. Based on my level of knowledge, I personally believe that Core's solution has a long-term plan.

Who are the allies?

Who are our allies in this matter? It is often difficult for us to distinguish them. For example, Mike, after promoting XT, he ran away. That’s not all. He also said that he was not optimistic about Bitcoin and sold all his coins. Why would someone who does not hold coins be so enthusiastic about forking?

As a coin holder, I can only be sure that miners are allies. They have invested real money and we can all see the computing power, which cannot be faked. But what about the developer? Whether he holds the coin is unknown. I don’t trust anyone who disregards the interests of miners and forks with 75% computing power support. The reason is simple. I don’t know whether you hold the coin or not, but miners are allies in plain sight. If you disregard the interests of miners, it only means that you are not our ally. Therefore, after the launch of XT, Gavin’s status in my heart plummeted.

Who is vulnerable?

In fact, Bitcoin has a fault tolerance mechanism. If a major bug occurs, it is easy for the entire network to reach a consensus and conduct a hard fork, because no one wants to go against money. Why has there been no consensus on capacity expansion after so long? Because it is not urgent!

If the block is full and the consequences are serious enough to paralyze the network, I believe that the hard fork will be executed within 24 hours and will definitely succeed. However, it is obvious that if the block is full, it is full, and it is no big deal. During the spam transaction attack and the days when the market rose, the block was basically full all the time.

What? Poor experience? Blocking new users? Low price? Haha, all the crazy fans want the price to be low, right? No matter how you look at it, it’s not Bitcoin that’s vulnerable, but ourselves. Maybe the price is rising too slowly and we’re anxious. Maybe someone is trying to make a quick buck by shorting and deliberately creating panic.

Just do what you need to do, and don’t be stingy when it comes to hoarding coins!