With Venezuela’s inflation reaching new heights, negative interest rates across Europe, Fintech passing the tipping point in China, blockchain based tech estimated to pass the tipping point in about five years, there are many opportunities and threats for Bitcoin, Ethereum and other public blockchains.
Currently, both communities, but primarily Bitcoin, which remains deeply divided, are engaged in an argument that cannot end for, at least, a decade, as the two sides have fundamentally different visions that cannot be reconciled.
After more than a year of heated debate which has now descended into vitriolic and toxic noise from both sides, it is time to recognize a substantial number of bitcoiners hold different visions and, therefore, must part their own way. A Tale of Two Worlds
It is for history to say which path is right. At this point in time, no one can conclusively prove one vision or the other is best. In absence of such conclusive evidence, it is only natural that different weights are placed on trade-offs that bitcoin has to make by different people.
As Gregory Maxwell stated early on in the debate, we need to recognize that there are trade-offs. I would add, we need to recognize that two communities have formed who passionately and genuinely hold fundamentally different visions arising from a difference of weight placed on those trade-offs.
Nakamoto had a vision of on-chain scaling to Visa levels with nodes operating on server farms across the world and jurisdictions. The first response to this vision was an alternative; the creation of hierarchical layers on top of bitcoin’s base. This has been extended to include sidechains, creating competing chains, but with the difference that they all circle around bitcoin, the currency. There are many things to be said about both visions as has now been said for more […]
