The exact moment when Core was first infected with the woke virus was in 2020 when an anonymous dev, TrentZ, with no prior github history in the bitcoin repo (or any activity since then), submitted a PR to change the word "blacklist" in Bitcoin Core test code with the comment "Let's use a more appropriate and clear word and discard the usage of the blacklist. Blocklist is clear and shall make everyone happy."

I remember well this caused some controversy at the time, with people pushing back on the absurd wokeness of it all. Many of the same devs currently defending v30, crying about Gloria being "chased out", and making all kinds of excuses for spam, argued in favor of the change. Among their arguments were plenty of elitism and credentialism very similar to what we've heard recently. It was the first time I noticed a shift towards wokeness in Core and I knew then it was just the start.

This is how the woke virus infects a project like Core. It slips in as small, innocuous changes. Then the team mindset slowly shifts with constant pressure to conform, purity tests like getting the covid vaccine, strict adherence to ESG/DEI and other insane woke progressive ideologies, slowly pushing out dissenters and forcing everyone else to toe the line. Core has followed the woke playbook to the letter.

Six years later, Core is completely controlled by this mentality. Unfortunately there is no way to undo this damage. Just like bitcoin doesn't seek to change the system but rather replace it, we need to replace Core. Spam, shiticoins, and wokeness are not welcome in Bitcoin.

https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/19227