I've taken a bit of a step back since BIP-110 activation day, both to collect my thoughts and to just take a break after an exhausting few months. Here's an update on me and many of my thoughts.
TL;DR: I'm taking a bit of a step back. I'm not forking off.
BIP-110
It's done now. I'm not moving to the new fork. Enough said about that.
My support was almost entirely around avoiding chaos, uncertainty, and fracturing the community. I'm sad to see many bitcoiners I respect losing faith in the project.
I have to admit, I've had to rethink a few things about how Bitcoin works.
One thing we definitely learned is that the popular narrative about 2017 was wrong. The UASF provided enough leverage to push SegWit over the line. It wasn't a minority of plebs forcing a change on their own. Those who insisted that 110 would play out the same was as 2017 were categorically wrong.
I also want to note, for the record, that I doubted that things would play out the way Luke, Mechanic, and others predicted, and I have receipts. Hindsight is 20/20. I chose to push for the possibility that wouldn't result in a hard fork away. It didn't play out like that.
I now understand that the "economic weight" metric is completely real. That's the only way a node actually plays any direct role on the network. At the same time, running a node is still important for you. Your node enables your self-sovereignty. Nothing is lost by a minority of nodes being unable to force changes through on the network.
At the same time, I truly believe that 110 wasn't a sybil attack, at least not entirely. Real users had and have real grievances over Bitcoin's development. I don't excuse the choices that Core have made, nor the behavior of many on the 110 opposition side. There were opportunities to compromise, lower the temperature, and keep the community from fracturing. Then again, Luke also refused opportunities to compromise. It takes two. Maybe a hard fork was inevitable.
My position was mine. My own. The whole time. I was not mislead. I wasn't duped into anything. I listened to people saying very different things, and I made my own choices. I'll live with them.
Where I Go From Here
I'm taking a step back from many of my Bitcoin activities, partially but not entirely because my second child is due next month. I'm also hard at work pulling the final details together for BTCHEL (which I might not even get to attend, depending on my coming baby's world-entry preferences!). I'm excited to see many of my friends in the community in my home city one more time.
Then, I'm still confirmed to speak at the Plan B Forum in Lugano in October. After that, I have no plans to attend conferences for the foreseeable future.
Similarly, I've also officially stepped away from the Bitcoin Infinity Show. I'm no longer editing or producing episodes. I'm still going to help Knut and team maintain continuity and advising on future direction, but I'm not involved in the show itself anymore. We still have the Bitcoin Infinity Store and help friends in the space to publish books. I still enjoy that work, and I'm happy to do it.
I'm happy with what I was able to produce with Defending Bitcoin. I'm glad to make that Bitcoin cybersecurity resource available for free, and I appreciate any support by buying a physical copy. That book, unfortunately, is already quite out of date. That's what happens in fast-moving fields. I'll aim to carve out some time to update key chapters, especially relating to the effects of AI. I might make some quick changes to certain recommendations on the web version. In any case, I hope the book is still helpful to those who want to learn more about Bitcoin cybersecurity.
I largely plan to stay out of debates about Bitcoin's governance and future. It would be too strong to say that I don't care at all about those things, but I'll largely leave those things to the development community. Things like covenants are totally fine by me, in principle. BIP-54 is probably OK too, although it contains a similar edge confiscation risk as 110. If standards were applied consistently, BIP-54 would need to resolve that confiscation risk. But, I'm not going to play the contrarian and stand in opposition. I hope nobody wants to touch the 21 million cap any time soon. I'll lose interest if that ever happens, to put it mildly.
I'm happy for those who contribute to Bitcoin in their own way to continue to do so. I'm saddened by any personal conflicts that have arisen over the last months and years. I'm willing to put those issues behind me. Toxicity doesn't suit me. I'll leave that to others.
I would be lying if I said my enthusiasm for Bitcoin is as high as it was a few months ago. I'm definitely rethinking the effort I'm putting into the space. We'll see how long this break turns out to be. For the next months, at least, I'm focusing on my family. When I've regained some energy, maybe I'll put my focus back towards contributing more to the Bitcoin security space, and on adoption and education in general. I'll still be around, here on X. But I likely won't be so active for the foreseeable future.
I'm still excited to see everyone coming to Helsinki! We just finished the schedule, and I'm just as excited as last year. Maybe even more! At the same time, I'm looking forward to getting to the other side, and finally taking a break.
See you all out there. Take care.
TL;DR: I'm taking a bit of a step back. I'm not forking off.
BIP-110
It's done now. I'm not moving to the new fork. Enough said about that.
My support was almost entirely around avoiding chaos, uncertainty, and fracturing the community. I'm sad to see many bitcoiners I respect losing faith in the project.
I have to admit, I've had to rethink a few things about how Bitcoin works.
One thing we definitely learned is that the popular narrative about 2017 was wrong. The UASF provided enough leverage to push SegWit over the line. It wasn't a minority of plebs forcing a change on their own. Those who insisted that 110 would play out the same was as 2017 were categorically wrong.
I also want to note, for the record, that I doubted that things would play out the way Luke, Mechanic, and others predicted, and I have receipts. Hindsight is 20/20. I chose to push for the possibility that wouldn't result in a hard fork away. It didn't play out like that.
I now understand that the "economic weight" metric is completely real. That's the only way a node actually plays any direct role on the network. At the same time, running a node is still important for you. Your node enables your self-sovereignty. Nothing is lost by a minority of nodes being unable to force changes through on the network.
At the same time, I truly believe that 110 wasn't a sybil attack, at least not entirely. Real users had and have real grievances over Bitcoin's development. I don't excuse the choices that Core have made, nor the behavior of many on the 110 opposition side. There were opportunities to compromise, lower the temperature, and keep the community from fracturing. Then again, Luke also refused opportunities to compromise. It takes two. Maybe a hard fork was inevitable.
My position was mine. My own. The whole time. I was not mislead. I wasn't duped into anything. I listened to people saying very different things, and I made my own choices. I'll live with them.
Where I Go From Here
I'm taking a step back from many of my Bitcoin activities, partially but not entirely because my second child is due next month. I'm also hard at work pulling the final details together for BTCHEL (which I might not even get to attend, depending on my coming baby's world-entry preferences!). I'm excited to see many of my friends in the community in my home city one more time.
Then, I'm still confirmed to speak at the Plan B Forum in Lugano in October. After that, I have no plans to attend conferences for the foreseeable future.
Similarly, I've also officially stepped away from the Bitcoin Infinity Show. I'm no longer editing or producing episodes. I'm still going to help Knut and team maintain continuity and advising on future direction, but I'm not involved in the show itself anymore. We still have the Bitcoin Infinity Store and help friends in the space to publish books. I still enjoy that work, and I'm happy to do it.
I'm happy with what I was able to produce with Defending Bitcoin. I'm glad to make that Bitcoin cybersecurity resource available for free, and I appreciate any support by buying a physical copy. That book, unfortunately, is already quite out of date. That's what happens in fast-moving fields. I'll aim to carve out some time to update key chapters, especially relating to the effects of AI. I might make some quick changes to certain recommendations on the web version. In any case, I hope the book is still helpful to those who want to learn more about Bitcoin cybersecurity.
I largely plan to stay out of debates about Bitcoin's governance and future. It would be too strong to say that I don't care at all about those things, but I'll largely leave those things to the development community. Things like covenants are totally fine by me, in principle. BIP-54 is probably OK too, although it contains a similar edge confiscation risk as 110. If standards were applied consistently, BIP-54 would need to resolve that confiscation risk. But, I'm not going to play the contrarian and stand in opposition. I hope nobody wants to touch the 21 million cap any time soon. I'll lose interest if that ever happens, to put it mildly.
I'm happy for those who contribute to Bitcoin in their own way to continue to do so. I'm saddened by any personal conflicts that have arisen over the last months and years. I'm willing to put those issues behind me. Toxicity doesn't suit me. I'll leave that to others.
I would be lying if I said my enthusiasm for Bitcoin is as high as it was a few months ago. I'm definitely rethinking the effort I'm putting into the space. We'll see how long this break turns out to be. For the next months, at least, I'm focusing on my family. When I've regained some energy, maybe I'll put my focus back towards contributing more to the Bitcoin security space, and on adoption and education in general. I'll still be around, here on X. But I likely won't be so active for the foreseeable future.
I'm still excited to see everyone coming to Helsinki! We just finished the schedule, and I'm just as excited as last year. Maybe even more! At the same time, I'm looking forward to getting to the other side, and finally taking a break.
See you all out there. Take care.
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