bitcoin-dev
ossification and misaligned incentive concerns
Posted on: November 5, 2023 18:43 UTC
Erik expresses his concerns about the increasing influence of centralized service providers on Bitcoin's development.
He acknowledges that there may not be much that can be done, particularly when projects that involve trust, centralization, custodial services, and federation continue to receive funding. However, Erik believes that the solution lies in building better alternatives and maintaining a positive outlook.
To illustrate his point, Erik mentions the risks associated with projects that hold custody of funds and provide privacy without requiring Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures. He references past cases where similar projects with a certain volume of activity were ultimately shut down by governments. Erik suggests that utilizing covenants and statechains can enable the use of Bitcoin as peer-to-peer electronic cash with privacy, eliminating the need for custodial services. He also highlights the privacy benefits of payment pools with covenants.
Ultimately, Erik hopes that an agreement can be reached to implement a soft fork within the next year or so. The email is signed off by "floppy disk guy" and was sent using Proton Mail secure email.
(Note: The farewell part of the email has been ignored as per the given rules.)