Blockstream CEO: Bitcoin’s decentralized quality is a frog being boiled in warm water

The debate over Bitcoin block expansion is about the trade-off between expansion and maintaining network security. Although increasing the block limit will allow each block to accommodate more transactions, it will also limit the ability of individuals in some regions to participate in running full nodes and maintain the security of the Bitcoin network.

Adam亚当•巴克, co-founder and president of Blockstream, recently discussed the issues of Bitcoin block expansion and security on Epicenter Bitcoin, pointing out that the centralization problem caused by increasing the block limit is more problematic than block congestion, because many digital payment systems in reality have been centralized, and decentralization is the most important feature that distinguishes Bitcoin from these traditional digital payment systems.

“One of the challenges we face with blockchain expansion is that decentralization is increasingly under threat, like a frog in boiling water, decentralization is slowly being eroded.”

Back pointed out three specific aspects in the discussion that erode the decentralized quality of Bitcoin.

Mining Pools

In fact, the Bitcoin community is no stranger to the problem of mining pool centralization. Whenever the computing power of a mining pool approaches 51% of the total network computing power, it will cause panic in the Bitcoin community, and then people will go to various forums to issue alerts of 51% attacks.

When it comes to the issue of large mining pools having the most network computing power, Back seemed concerned about whether these mining pools could impose some restrictions on certain types of transactions. He said:

“Some mining pools have a relatively high proportion of computing power and miners. When making decisions, more than half of the miners must participate and reach a consensus before a policy can be implemented.”

But in Back’s view, it is not easy to reach a consensus, because some miners will consider their own interests instead of the overall interests of the Bitcoin network:

“To achieve neutrality in Bitcoin decisions, different people have to be involved in processing transactions, so even if 75% of miners want to freeze or prevent a Bitcoin payment, let’s say WikiLeaks has received the payment, but 75% of miners want to prevent them from spending the money, the remaining 25% of miners will still process the transaction. So, it’s just delayed, it’s not blocked. But regardless, there is still a certain degree of centralization.”

Mining hardware manufacturing

The second factor Back pointed out as detrimental to Bitcoin’s decentralization is the manufacturers that produce mining hardware:

“The public or small businesses will buy mining equipment directly from the manufacturer for $10,000 or $100,000. While the number of mining hardware manufacturers has shrunk as some have either pivoted, been acquired, or gone bankrupt, there are still some manufacturers that sell mining equipment to the public.”

What is the problem here? This problem is a bit like the first mining pool problem, that is, the most efficient mining equipment is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few people, and it will become more difficult for ordinary users to maintain the Bitcoin network through mining, which will eventually lead to similar problems in mining pool decision-making.

The lack of full nodes

The third aspect Back sees as undermining decentralization is the absence of full nodes. Full nodes are nodes that can execute all of the Bitcoin protocol rules and contain a complete copy of the blockchain. Back explained that these nodes help keep miners honest:

“Running full nodes is extremely important to the security of Bitcoin because the economics of the Bitcoin network rely on a full node. If the number of nodes is too low, users are not as secure as they could be. If there are no nodes, no checkpoints, then it’s just miners balancing against other miners.”

At the beginning of the Epicenter Bitcoin interview, the host asked Buck how he defined Bitcoin. Buck emphasized that decentralization is the most important and core value of Bitcoin, and is an important feature that distinguishes it from other online payment systems (such as e-gold and PayPal). Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why the decentralization of Bitcoin is so important in Buck's eyes.