A recent dispute within the W3C’s Web Payments groups has given skeptics of bitcoin’s sometimes chaotic development process "cause for pause" when thinking about the best way to deploy new financial technology.
The dichotomy between W3C and the bitcoin community’s approach to technology gained prominence in February , when a few members of W3C’s web payments groups were first vocal about what they deemed a lack of participation from blockchain innovators, specifically those in the bitcoin community.
That call for participation led Blockstream to join the group’s efforts, which might spur other bitcoin companies to come onboard as well.
However, a notable rift has now divided the W3C Web Payments Working Group after the perceived influence of browser vendors on the process prompted questions about the overall model. During a February decision centered on determining which specifications to work towards, Google and Microsoft seemed to garner too much control over the web payments standard, according to several individuals involved.
Manu Sporny, chairman of the W3C’s Web Payments Community Group, has now been faced with a key question – is it better to lead with code, or is having a more formal process like the W3C’s a better model?
Both have benefits and drawbacks, but right now, he’s less enamored with the W3C process.
Sporny told CoinDesk: "It looks like two of the largest companies have undue influence over the process." Just last month, Sporny came under fire for expressing concern that the bitcoin ecosystem hasn’t joined the W3C web payments work because they’re emboldened by hype.
The W3C was coming at standards from a legacy institution’s viewpoint – that there was a more professional process in place that, while slow, has proven successful for web standards since its creation in 1994. The dispute The Web Payments work was focused around a browser-based API that would […]
