Why I support the Core Roadmap

I posted this as a comment yesterday, but I think it could use more discussion:

For a long time I have waivered back and forth between the blocksize/hardfork debate.

I do believe I have settled my mind on the issue.

Listening to Jamie Dimon speak about governments attempt to shut Bitcoin down "if it gets too big" reminded me really what it is we are up against.

Bitcoin seeks to displace centuries old power structures, and they certainly won't go without a fight. We've been ignored up to this point, but now financial institutions and governments are taking notice.

Bitcoin must remain as decentralized and censorship resistant as possible. If we create a situation where nodes and miners have no possibility of operating anonymously, then they could theoretically all be targeted. Increasing centralization decreases the targets.

If for some reason major governments, the US, Russia, China, and the EU decided to outlaw bitcoin and/or create onerous regulations, a highly decentralized network would be able to adapt.

People would be able to mine behind TOR and VPN, people in South America and even some places in Africa could keep mining on.

Jamie Dimon makes it clear that he will use his influence to try to crush Bitcoin if it becomes a threat to his empire. I want Bitcoin to be as resilient as possible to any and all of these threats.

Additionally, a hardfork without a true state of emergency demonstrates that this currency and network can be changed by the will of the majority. We do not want a currency and network controlled by a political process. Yes the Core maintainers are a small group, but Bitcoin will grow beyond Core development. As the ecosystem grows, it will become more and more difficult to make any changes that are not absolutely necessary. This is a great property of Bitcoin, to be absolutely resistant to change. It inspires confidence that other parameters won't be changed in the future.

Another point I want to bring up is the halving we will experience later this year. We all want to believe that the price will increase significantly in response to the halving. This is far from guaranteed. A rising fee market will help subsidize miners during what WILL be an incredibly volatile year.

We, as the Bitcoin community have created something the world has never seen before. Bitcoin is worthless if we make it fragile enough to be ruined by State sanctions. Bitcoin is invaluable to me because it is anti-fragile.

Submitted January 23, 2016 at 04:09AM by 45sbvad http://bit.ly/1PbPXCl