ossification and misaligned incentive concerns

The email discusses the concern regarding the growing influence of service providers in the development and maintenance of the Bitcoin protocol. Currently, there are various providers offering anonymity services, scaling services, custody, and other layered services on top of Bitcoin. These providers operate using trust-based and federated models.

As Bitcoin gains popularity, these service providers have gained more influence over the protocol. While users generally desire features such as privacy, scaling, and vaulting, the service providers have a vested interest in maintaining a "moat" around their services. This means that these features are kept off-chain and federated, making them more difficult for regular users to access.

The email suggests that this situation is now incentivizing a vocal, but highly technical, minority to support the off-chain and federated approach. The author raises the question of whether others share this concern.

It is worth noting that the email does not provide any specific examples or references to further explore this issue. However, it highlights an important aspect of the Bitcoin ecosystem where service providers' interests may conflict with the needs of regular users.