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Actually, you can absolutely have a say in bitcoin's operation or design decisions. From the bitcoin FAQ: Bitcoin is a distributed network, so any changes imp
by grubles 12y ago
Actually, you can absolutely have a say in bitcoin's operation or design decisions.
From the bitcoin FAQ:
Bitcoin is a distributed network, so any changes implemented to the system must be accepted by all users. Someone trying to change the way Bitcoins are generated would have to convince every user to download and use their software – so the only changes that would go through are those that would be equally benefit all users.
And thus, it is more or less impossible for anyone to change the function of Bitcoin to their advantage. If users don't like the changes, they won't adopt them, whereas if users do like them, then these will help everyone equally. Of course, one can conceive of a situation where someone manages to get a change pushed through that provides them with an advantage that no one notices, but given that Bitcoin is structurally relatively simple, it is unlikely that any major changes will go through without someone noticing first.
The fact that such changes are so difficult to make testifies to the fully distributed nature of Bitcoin. Any centrally controlled currency can be modified by its central agency without the consent of its adherents. Bitcoin has no central authority, so it changes only at the behest of the whole community. Bitcoins development represents a kind of collective evolution; the first of its kind among currencies.
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/FAQ#Could_miners_collude_to_give_themselves_money_or_to_fundamentally_change_the_nature_of_Bitcoin.3F https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/FAQ#Could_miners_collude_to_give_...
- Frondo 12y agoCan you explain the connection between what you copypasted and the idea that I have a say in how Bitcoin operates? I'm struggling to see how "any changes implemented to the system must be accepted by all users" is democratic, or gives any decision-making authority to the people.
- grubles 12y agoThe wording is inaccurate in that instead of /all/ users it should say the /majority/ of users must accept changes proposed to bitcoin. Regardless, you honestly don't see how that gives the decision-making power to the people? Why do you think that?
- Frondo 12y agoI don't see how that gives decision-making power to the people. I do think that sets an extraordinarily high barrier to making any changes; far higher than a citizenship test or a poll tax, two other things that have been discarded as antithetical to a democratic right to vote.