[2015-05-30] Audio: Let's Talk Bitcoin! #217 The Bitcoin Block Size Discussion

[LiteCoinGuy]

Let's Talk Bitcoin! #217 The Bitcoin Block Size Discussion

Stephanie, Andreas and Adam speak first with Bitcoin Foundation Chief Scientist Gavin Andresen about the Bitcoin Block Size debate, where it came from, why it matters and what he thinks we should do about it.

https://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/lets-talk-bitcoin-217-the-bitcoin-block-size-discussion


http://gavinandresen.ninja/

[EternalWingsofGod]

Seeing all the discussion about this in Bitcoin discussion and a lot of people wondering what is going on and what should be done it sounds like this is a good watch to get up to date on the issue.
I'll have to watch this later but it is good to see that there are already 200 + episodes

[2dogs]

I tried listening to this but the audio was so bad, especially when Gavin was speaking.
Really was interested in hearing this, but I had to turn it off early.

[DooMAD]

Gavin's audio was definitely a bit rough, but it's an important enough topic that it's worth persevering through it.  Reading some of the other threads, it's a little alarming that so many people don't seem to have a grasp of the consequences if we get this wrong.  People seem to have this bizarre view that Gavin is having some sort of power-trip and trying to take over, but this is nonsense.  Keep the politics and personalities out of it and focus on the technical side of things.  1MB is an artificial limit that will become a bottleneck in the not-too-distant future.  Increased adoption is required for the network to survive in the long term.  Once the block rewards dwindle over time, the network will rely solely on transaction fess.  The amount of fees collected at the moment wouldn't be enough of an incentive by itself for miners to secure the network.  We need many more users to pay more fees and the network can't support enough users to do that with its current artificial bottleneck.

[jeannemadrigal2]

This is a great listen, and very timely.  I wonder if a MOD can move this thread to the main bitcoin forum?  The reason is that not as many people come in here to look at these things, but everyone needs to listen to this.  I think this would eliminate 90% of the FUD threads if people actually listen to it.

And to the host:  get a de-esser please!

[EternalWingsofGod]

This is a great listen, and very timely.
I wonder if a MOD can move this thread to the main bitcoin forum?
And to the host:  get a de-esser please!

It provides excellent information and they should seriously consider that de-esser.
I looked around for the Letstalkbitcoin transcripts for this episode but was not able to find them not sure where they put the list of them since the integration if someone knows where to find them that would be helpful for people who want to read it.
Then post a new topic with the transcripts so people can read and acquire more information on the issue.

Some Highlights
I found the most interesting part was when Gavin then Peter did their points of views and the crosstalk at the 41 min mark onwards to the end.
(12:00-13:20)
Gavin mentioned we will see a lot of innovation to get quick transactions and its not an either/or choice in the end.
(35:00) (37:00-37:35)
Scale issues are interesting as Peter pointed out some Bitcoin developers would not be able to run full nodes at a 20mb fork simply because they do not have the bandwidth capacity to support it.
(40:00-40:40) - Peter also is in agreement that this will result in Bitcoin innovation
(41:00 Onwards)
Crosstalk
(44:45-49:00) Helps explains the 1MB position clearly and to the point
The differences between the forks and issues related to it (49:01-53:00) with the issue of mining pool incentives and the issue of kicking the can down the road without fixing the core issue.

[LiteCoinGuy]

Gavin's audio was definitely a bit rough, but it's an important enough topic that it's worth persevering through it.  Reading some of the other threads, it's a little alarming that so many people don't seem to have a grasp of the consequences if we get this wrong.  People seem to have this bizarre view that Gavin is having some sort of power-trip and trying to take over, but this is nonsense.  Keep the politics and personalities out of it and focus on the technical side of things.  1MB is an artificial limit that will become a bottleneck in the not-too-distant future.  Increased adoption is required for the network to survive in the long term.  Once the block rewards dwindle over time, the network will rely solely on transaction fess.  The amount of fees collected at the moment wouldn't be enough of an incentive by itself for miners to secure the network.  We need many more users to pay more fees and the network can't support enough users to do that with its current artificial bottleneck.

correct. new members should read and learn before they make statements.

[Denker]

I'm a regularly listener of LetstalkBitcoin. And although I'm not that tech savvy as many others here it's imo the best podcast out there regarding cryptoland. And I highly recommend everyone to listen to this episode to understand a bit more of the actual debate.Furthermore we get direct impression of Gavin's and Peter's opinion. Imo it's always a difference of listening about someones opinion and hearing about it. As someone else here already mentioned it would great if a mod can move this thread into the BTC Discussion section.