BR021 - Bitcoin Power Dynamics Panel ft. Harry Sudock, Aaron van Wirdum & Adam Gibson

Oct 10, 2023

I’m joined by guests Harry Sudock, Aaron van Wirdum and Adam Gibson to discuss the power dynamics in Bitcoin.

00:02:41 The Mexican stand off conceptualisation of the power dynamics within Bitcoin
00:04:19 Are developers part of the game theory?
00:21:57 The power dynamics involved in changing Bitcoin
00:33:39 The role of prediction markets in determining consensus
00:43:01 Can Bitcoin development be corrupted?
00:46:26 Corruption factors invovled in chain forks
00:53:39 Bitcoin’s resistance to change
00:57:12 Bitcoin vs gold and considerations surrounding resistance to human interference
01:03:19 Perspectives on changing Bitcoin
01:04:41 Controversial changes (Tapscript)
01:07:16 What properties of Bitcoin are changeable?
01:15:18 How do you defin the “true” Bitcoin?
01:23:53 Forking as means of achieving market consensus
01:27:14 Politcs and getting buy-in for controversial changes
01:32:40 Why change Bitcoin?
01:34:55 Historic examples of contentious changes
01:38:11 Contextualising developer influence on Bitcoin
01:41:05 Contentious non-consensus changes (RBF)
01:45:12 Game theory involved in conflicts between users and miners
01:55:53 Mitigating against short term incentives with long term risks
01:59:39 Bitcoin: There is no alternative
02:01:55 Off-chain considerations

We’re looking for ideas for interesting panel conversations. To send Bitcoin related questions, just go to bitcoin.review and follow the contact links at the bottom of the page.