Bitcoin's Great Schism - A Compendium

[iCEBREAKER]

Let's make a reference thread as a handy guide to the Blocksize War saga!

Everyone knows that Bitcoin runs on drama

8/10/10
How do we prevent Bitcoin forks (or should we)?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=779

9/30/10
Re: Prioritized transactions, and tx fees
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1314.msg14750#msg14750

10/3/10
[PATCH] increase block size limit
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1347.0

1/3/13
The MAX_BLOCK_SIZE fork
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=140233.0

2/18/13
How a floating blocksize limit inevitably leads towards centralization
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=144895.0

3/11/13
In re Bitcoin Devs are idiots
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=152027

4/19/13
Roger Ver and Jon Matonis pushed aside now that Bitcoin is becoming mainstream
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=181168.0

5/17/13
New video: Why the blocksize limit keeps Bitcoin free and decentralized
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=208200.msg2180232

6/19/14
Bitcoin and Voting Power
http://hackingdistributed.com/2014/06/19/bitcoin-and-voting-power/

7/25/14
Share your ideas on what to replace the 1 MB block size limit with
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=709970.0

10/7/14
Gavin Andresen Proposes Scalability Roadmap and Hardfork
http://qntra.net/2014/10/gavin-andressen-proposes-scalability-roadmap-and-hardfork/

1/6/15
Looking before the Scaling Up Leap
http://gavintech.blogspot.ca/2015/01/looking-before-scaling-up-leap.html

1/10/15
The Hard Fork Missile Crisis
http://qntra.net/2015/01/the-hard-fork-missile-crisis

1/10/15
Fork off
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=919629.0

1/12/15
Twenty Megabytes testing results
http://gavintech.blogspot.ca/2015/01/twenty-megabytes-testing-results.html

1/12/15
Let's address some of the more common pseudo-arguments raised by the very stupid people that like the Gavin scamcoin proposal
http://trilema.com/2015/lets-address-some-of-the-more-common-pseudo-arguments-raised-by-the-very-stupid-people-that-like-the-gavin-scamcoin-proposal/

1/30/15
Bitcoin 20MB Fork
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=941331.0

2/4/15
Permanently keeping the 1MB (anti-spam) restriction is a great idea ...
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=946236.0

2/20/15
Re: Gold collapsing. Bitcoin UP.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=68655.msg10220711#msg10220711

5/5/15
The capacity cliff
https://medium.com/@octskyward/the-capacity-cliff-586d1bf7715e

5/7/15
Crash landing
https://medium.com/@octskyward/crash-landing-f5cc19908e32

5/11/15
Bitcoin faces a crossroads, needs an effective decision-making process
https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2015/05/11/bitcoin-faces-a-crossroads-needs-an-effective-decision-making-process/

5/29/15
Gavin Threatens to Quit Bitcoin Development and Join Hearn's Fork
http://qntra.net/2015/05/gavin-threatens-to-quit-bitcoin-development-and-join-hearns-fork/

5/30/15
[Bitcoin-development] soft-fork block size increase (extension blocks) Re: Proposed alternatives to the 20MB stepfunction
https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2015-May/008356.html

6/2/15
What Have The Core Bitcoin Devs Ever Done For Us?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3bx44a/what_have_the_core_bitcoin_devs_ever_done_for_us

6/10/15
Mike Hearn: In about 1-2 weeks, Bitcoin XT will include support for 20mb blocks
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1086736.0

6/11/15
The Bitcoin Gauntlet
https://medium.com/bitcoin-think/the-bitcoin-gauntlet-e9e721297aca

6/13/15
Hearn's Worst Case Scenario: Checkpoints in XT to "ignore the longest chain"
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1089283.0

6/22/15
Bitcoin's Ironic Crisis
https://medium.com/@bramcohen/bitcoin-s-ironic-crisis-32226a85e39f

6/23/15
How the Bitcoin experiment might fail
https://medium.com/@sdaftuar/how-the-bitcoin-experiment-might-fail-7f6c24f99ecf

7/8/15
"Bitcoin" XT Status Update
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1115016.0

7/28/15
Analyzing the 2013 Bitcoin fork: centralized decision-making saved the day
http://freedom-to-tinker.com/2015/07/28/analyzing-the-2013-bitcoin-fork-centralized-decision-making-saved-the-day/

8/11/15
I ran Bitcoin Core for >3 years, and I turned it off today
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1150481.0

8/15/15
Big block support observer
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1153957.0

8/15/15
Why is Bitcoin forking?
https://medium.com/faith-and-future/why-is-bitcoin-forking-d647312d22c1

8/17/15
Not Bitcoin XT
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1154520.0

8/18/15
Bitcoin XT has code which downloads your IP address to facilitate blacklisting
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1156489.0

8/18/15
MeniRosenfeld comments on "It's time for a break: About the recent mess & temporary new rules"
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3h9cq4/its_time_for_a_break_about_the_recent_mess/cu6udfe

8/19/15
What happens when the managers and investors ignore the engineers and scientists
https://twitter.com/NickSzabo4/status/634131738063581184

8/19/15
Bitcoin Battered After "Governance Coup"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-08-19/bitcoin-battered-after-governance-coup

8/19/15
Adam Back Says the Bitcoin Fork Is a Coup
http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/networks/the-bitcoin-for-is-a-coup

8/20/15
Nuclear option of forking the codebase should only be used as a last resort
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3hp190/charlie_lee_nuclear_option_of_forking_the/

8/26/15
Bitcoin XT - Officially #REKT (also goes for BIP101 fraud)
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1162684.0

8/27/15
BIP101 implementation flaws
http://organofcorti.blogspot.com/2015/08/bip101-implementation-flaws.html

8/27/15
An XT FAQ
https://medium.com/@octskyward/an-xt-faq-38e78aa32ff0

8/28/15
Why I support BIP101
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1164464

9/9/15
Measuring Decentralization
http://www.truthcoin.info/blog/measuring-decentralization/

9/14/15
Supermajority and BIP101 activation, part 2
http://organofcorti.blogspot.com/2015/09/supermajority-and-bip101-activation.html

9/14/15
Adam Back on the Overlooked Importance of Full Nodes in Bitcoin
http://coinjournal.net/adam-back-on-the-overlooked-importance-of-full-nodes-in-bitcoin/

12/7/15
[bitcoin-dev] Capacity increases for the Bitcoin system.
https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2015-December/011865.html

12/16/15
[bitcoin-dev] Block size: It's economics & user preparation & moral hazard
https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2015-December/011974.html

1/1/16
Time for Bitcoin Users to Reclaim Their Voice
http://hackingdistributed.com/2016/01/03/time-for-bitcoin-user-voice/

1/2/16
Bitcoin's Elegant Upgrade Mechanism: Miner Voting
https://medium.com/@barmstrong/bitcoin-s-elegant-upgrade-mechanism-miner-voting-66faa35d27af

1/2/16
bitcoin "unlimited" seeks review
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1312371.0

1/9/16
Analysis and list of top big blocks shills (XT #REKT ignorers)
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1318519

1/14/16
Why Bitcoin's Decentralization Matters
http://bluematt.bitcoin.ninja/2016/01/14/decentralization/

1/14/16
The resolution of the Bitcoin experiment
https://medium.com/@octskyward/the-resolution-of-the-bitcoin-experiment-dabb30201f7

1/14/16
A Bitcoin Believer?s Crisis of Faith
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/business/dealbook/the-bitcoin-believer-who-gave-up.html

1/16/16
ToominCoin aka "Bitcoin_Classic" #R3KT
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1330553.0

1/16/16
Whiny Ragequitting
https://medium.com/@bramcohen/whiny-ragequitting-cab164b1e88

1/18/16
Hearn: 8MB "obviously wasn't based on any kind of scientific analysis"
https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=mike_hearn&next=10921219

1/18/16
KEEP CALM AND BITCOIN ON
https://medium.com/@BitFuryGroup/keep-calm-and-bitcoin-on-4f29d581276

1/23/16
Lesson learned from the Classic coup attempt or why Core needs to prepare a GPU only PoW
https://medium.com/@vcorem/lesson-learned-from-the-classic-coup-attempt-or-why-core-needs-to-prepare-a-gpu-only-pow-6a9afe18e4b0

1/26/16
How to Use Open Source and Shut the Fuck Up At the Same Time
https://hueniverse.com/2016/01/26/how-to-use-open-source-and-shut-the-fuck-up-at-the-same-time/

1/27/16
Wondering out loud: Which should Chinese miners support - Core, Classic or another?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1343716.0

1/28/16
The Governance of Anarchists
https://medium.com/@PanteraCapital/the-governance-of-anarchists-blockchain-letter-january-2016-798842f468de

1/29/16
Hard Fork Risks and Why 95% Should be the Standard
http://bitledger.info/hard-fork-risks-and-why-95-should-be-the-standard/

1/29/16
A trip to the moon requires a rocket with multiple stages or otherwise the rocket equation will eat your lunch... packing everyone in clown-car style into a trebuchet and hoping for success is right out.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/438hx0/a_trip_to_the_moon_requires_a_rocket_with/

2/2/16
Scaling Bitcoin: The Great Block Size Debate
https://blog.coinbase.com/scaling-bitcoin-the-great-block-size-debate-d2cba9021db0

2/5/16
[bitcoin-dev] BIP proposal: Increase block size limit to 2 megabytes
http://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2016-February/012358.html

2/8/16
PSA: Clearing up some misconceptions about full nodes
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/44rx5k/psa_clearing_up_some_misconceptions_about_full/

2/9/16
Why My Faith in Bitcoin has Been Restored
http://bravetheworld.com/2016/02/09/faith-bitcoin-restored/

2/10/16
A Call for Consensus
https://medium.com/@bitcoinroundtable/a-call-for-consensus-d96d5560d8d6

2/11/16
Hard Fork Conspiracy Treacherous
http://www.riddellwilliams.com/blog/articles/post/hard-fork-conspiracy-treacherous

2/11/16
Ed Felten: What does the White House think of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin?
https://www.quora.com/What-does-the-White-House-think-of-cryptocurrencies-such-as-bitcoin

2/12/16
Double Billing is not ?Healthy Competition?
https://medium.com/@bramcohen/double-billing-is-not-healthy-competition-b698c345b11e

2/16/16
I disapprove of Bitcoin splitting, but I?ll defend to the death its right to do it
http://fieryspinningsword.com/2016/02/13/i-dont-want-bitcoin-to-split-but-ill-defend-to-death-its-right-to-do-it/

2/20/16
Bitcoin Roundtable Consensus
https://medium.com/@bitcoinroundtable/bitcoin-roundtable-consensus-266d475a61ff

2/22/16
Peter Todd Disputes Claim That 75% Majority Hard Forks are Safe
http://coinjournal.net/peter-todd-disputes-claim-that-75-majority-hard-forks-are-safe/

2/22/16
Segregated Witness and Hardware Wallets
https://medium.com/@Ledger/segregated-witness-and-hardware-wallets-cc88ba532fb3

2/22/16
Lesser known reasons to keep blocks small, in the words of Bitcoin Core developers
https://medium.com/@elliotolds/lesser-known-reasons-to-keep-blocks-small-in-the-words-of-bitcoin-core-developers-44861968185e

2/22/16
Coinbase CEO Rejects Proposal for Bitcoin Hard Fork in 2017
http://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-ceo-rejects-bitcoin-hard-fork/

2/23/16
Bitcoin Roundtable Consensus: Wladimir Says ?I?m All For It?
http://coinjournal.net/bitcoin-roundtable-consensus-wladimir-says-im/

2/25/16
Blocksonly mode BW savings, the limits of efficient block xfer, and better relay
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1377345.0

2/26/16
MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito Speaks Up on Bitcoin Technical Development Environment
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/mit-media-lab-director-joi-ito-speaks-up-on-bitcoin-technical-development-environment-cm585158

3/4/16
What Happened At The Satoshi Roundtable
https://medium.com/the-coinbase-blog/what-happened-at-the-satoshi-roundtable-6c11a10d8cdf

3/4/16    
Coinbase CEO: Core Team is a "Systemic Threat"
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1387667

3/4/16
Boycott Coinbase to stop the attack against Bitcoin
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1387457.0

3/14/16
A date with Sybil
https://medium.com/@laurentmt/a-date-with-sybil-bdb33bd91ac3

3/15/16
BTCC's Samson Mow on Block Size: The Bitcoin Community Must See Through Manipulation, Keep Calm and Write Code
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/btcc-s-sampson-mow-on-block-size-the-bitcoin-community-must-see-through-manipulation-keep-calm-and-write-code-1458061357

3/21/16
Contentious Blocksize Wars
https://medium.com/@slush/contentious-blocksize-wars-6fd7c07f9d90

3/22/16
A Closer Look at Reddit Vote Manipulation About Bitcoin
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/a-closer-look-at-reddit-vote-manipulation-about-bitcoin-1458682699

3/31/16
BTCC Funding, Development Report, and Hard-Forks
https://petertodd.org/2016/btcc-funding

4/2/16
Clearing the FUD around Segwit
http://www.achow101.com/2016/04/Segwit-FUD-Clearup

4/7/16
Bitcoin Hard Forks May Become Safer With User Voting
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bitcoin-hard-forks-may-become-safer-with-user-voting-1460040031

4/12/16
Peter Todd Worried About Those Willing to ?Fork Bitcoin at All Costs?
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/peter-todd-worried-about-those-willing-to-fork-bitcoin-at-all-costs-1460475488

4/14/16
The Power of Schnorr: The Signature Algorithm to Increase Bitcoin's Scale and Privacy
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/the-power-of-schnorr-the-signature-algorithm-to-increase-bitcoin-s-scale-and-privacy-1460642496/

4/15/16
Bitcoin Core 0.12.1 Released, Major Step Forward for Scalability
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bitcoin-core-released-major-step-forward-for-scalability-1460762378

4/18/16
Supporters of 2 MB Bitcoin Blocks Unable to Convince Miners to Hard Fork in Beijing Meeting
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/supporters-of-mb-bitcoin-blocks-unable-to-convince-miners-to-hard-fork-in-beijing-meeting-1461004264

4/20/16
Bitcoin scaling tradeoffs with Adam Back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEZAlNBJjA0

4/29/16
Roger Ver tries to intentionally spend unconfirmed bitcoins from a zero fee transaction, which fails, and then blames failure on technology.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4h3agw/roger_ver_tries_to_intentionally_spend/

5/2/16
FYI, @gavinandresen's commit access just got removed - Core team members are concerned that he may have been hacked.
https://twitter.com/petertoddbtc/status/727078284345917441

5/6/16
Dazed and confused, but trying to continue
https://laanwj.github.io/2016/05/06/hostility-scams-and-moving-forward.html

5/11/16
Gavin Andresen is Not Giving Up on Bitcoin Classic
http://coinjournal.net/gavin-andresen-not-giving-bitcoin-classic/

5/12/16


5/15/16
An Anatomy of Bitcoin's Great Scaling Debate
http://www.coindesk.com/anatomy-bitcoin-scaling-debate/

5/16/16
Almost half of the Classic nodes just disappeared
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4jo15f/almost_half_of_the_classic_nodes_just_disappeared/

5/20/16
Mike Hearn: Bitcoin's "Young, Unripened Democracy" Suffers Under Authoritarian Developers
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/mike-hearn-bitcoin-democracy/

5/23/16
Antpool Will Not Run SegWit Without Bitcoin Block Size Increase Hard Fork
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/antpool-will-not-run-segwit-without-block-size-increase-hard-fork-1464028753

5/24/16
Ethereum is the Forefront of Digital Currency
https://medium.com/the-coinbase-blog/ethereum-is-the-forefront-of-digital-currency-5300298f6c75

5/25/16
Bitcoin Protocol Role Models
http://gavinandresen.ninja/bitcoin-protocol-role-models

6/1/16
Original vision of Bitcoin
http://blog.oleganza.com/post/145248960618/original-vision-of-bitcoin

6/14/16
Rick Falkvinge on Segwit: I think it's a dead-end. It's over-engineering.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4nzona/rick_falkvinge_on_segwit_i_think_its_a_deadend/

6/14/16
The Big-Blocker Fallacy
https://medium.com/@rextar4444/the-big-blocker-fallacy-dd5c67ad6c12

6/28/16
Time to End the Block-Size Blockade
https://fee.org/articles/time-to-end-the-block-size-blockade/

8/8/16
Segregated Witness and aligning economic incentives with resource costs
https://segwit.org/segregated-witness-and-aligning-economic-incentives-with-resource-costs-7d987b135c00

9/14/16
Stop fuckin' around, fork the son-of-a-bitch already
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1616856

10/23/16
A Future Led by Bitcoin Unlimited is a Centralized Future
https://blog.sia.tech/a-future-led-by-bitcoin-unlimited-is-a-centralized-future-e48ab52c817a

11/21/16
The artificial block size limit
https://medium.com/@bergealex4/the-artificial-block-size-limit-1b69aa5d9d4

1/19/17
Why Segregated Witness will make 2017 Bitcoin's best year yet
https://segwit.org/why-segragated-witness-will-make-2017-bitcoins-best-year-yet-527e391c93cb

1/21/17
The SegWit Debate
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5pcar2/the_segwit_debate/

1/27/17
How Bitcoin Unlimited Users May End Up on Different Blockchains
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/how-bitcoin-unlimited-users-may-end-different-blockchains/

2/1/17
Why Bitcoin Unlimited?s "Emergent Consensus" Is a Gamble
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/why-bitcoin-unlimiteds-emergent-consensus-gamble/

2/5/17
Happy Bitcoin Coder
https://medium.com/@nicolasdorier/happy-bitcoin-coder-2def905d5929

2/9/17
Money, blockchains, and social scalability
https://unenumerated.blogspot.jp/2017/02/money-blockchains-and-social-scalability.html

2/10/17
Scaling Bitcoin: Reflections from the DCG Portfolio
https://medium.com/@DCGco/scaling-bitcoin-reflections-from-the-dcg-portfolio-35b9a065b2a4

2/11/17
The DCG is not Bitcoin. You are Bitcoin
https://hackernoon.com/the-dcg-is-not-bitcoin-you-are-bitcoin-c57e2d2ce846

2/12/17
Complete Review on SegWit vs. Bitcoin Unlimited: Arguments and Clarity
https://cointelegraph.com/news/complete-review-on-segwit-vs-bitcoin-unlimited-arguments-and-clarity

1/21/17
The SegWit Debate
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5pcar2/the_segwit_debate/

1/27/17
How Bitcoin Unlimited Users May End Up on Different Blockchains
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/how-bitcoin-unlimited-users-may-end-different-blockchains/

1/29/17
bitcoin.com loses 13.2BTC trying to fork the network: Untested and buggy BU creates an oversized block, Many BU node banned, the HF fails
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5qwtr2/bitcoincom_loses_132btc_trying_to_fork_the/

1/30/17
LOL! Miners running latest BU need to set their max block size lower than Core to avoid mining invalid blocks
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5qxrnt/lol_miners_running_latest_bu_need_to_set_their/

1/31/17
So who the hell is still supporting BU?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1771911.0

1/31/17
Statement regarding excessive block by Bitcoin Unlimited software 29 Jan 2017
https://bitco.in/forum/threads/buir-2017-01-29-statement-regarding-excessive-block-by-bitcoin-unlimited-software-29-jan-2017.1790/

2/3/17
Bitcoin Market Needs Big Blocks, Says Founder of BTC.TOP Mining Pool
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/bitcoin-market-needs-big-blocks-says-founder-btc-top-mining-pool/

2/3/17
Segregated Witness (SW) vs Bitcoin Unlimited (BU)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5rs55l/segregated_witness_sw_vs_bitcoin_unlimited_bu/

2/4/17
Gavin Andresen supporting an attack on the minority chain in case BU fork with majority hashpower
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5s2c2z/gavin_andresen_supporting_an_attack_on_the/

2/7/17
Capitalist View on a Bitcoin Hard Fork
https://alistairmilne.com/2017/02/07/capitalist-view-on-a-bitcoin-hard-fork/

2/10/17
Scaling Bitcoin: Reflections from the DCG Portfolio
https://medium.com/@DCGco/scaling-bitcoin-reflections-from-the-dcg-portfolio-35b9a065b2a4

2/11/17
The DCG is not Bitcoin. You are Bitcoin
https://hackernoon.com/the-dcg-is-not-bitcoin-you-are-bitcoin-c57e2d2ce846

2/12/17
Complete Review on SegWit vs. Bitcoin Unlimited: Arguments and Clarity
https://cointelegraph.com/news/complete-review-on-segwit-vs-bitcoin-unlimited-arguments-and-clarity

2/20/17
Why Bitcoin Will Get Scaling Without Segwit or Large Blocks
https://medium.com/@jimmysong/why-bitcoin-will-get-scaling-without-segwit-or-large-blocks-772799fab021

2/22/17
BTCC's Bobby Lee: Why Chinese Bitcoin Miners Are Not Happy With SegWit
https://cointelegraph.com/news/btccs-bobby-lee-why-chinese-bitcoin-miners-are-not-happy-with-segwit

2/23/17
Understanding the risk of BU (bitcoin unlimited)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5vo5wi/understanding_the_risk_of_bu_bitcoin_unlimited/

2/25/17
Moving towards user activated soft fork activation
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1805060.0

2/26/17
The Bitcoin Balance of Power Poster
https://medium.com/@AudunGulbrands1/the-bitcoin-balance-of-power-poster-91271ab31b86

2/27/17
Why Bitcoin Transaction Capacity Doesn’t Really Matter
https://medium.com/@jimmysong/why-bitcoin-transaction-capacity-doesnt-really-matter-fddcc0c9f021

3/1/17
Bitcoin: no need to keep talking
http://bravetheworld.com/2017/03/01/bitcoin-talking/

3/1/17
The Bitcoin Filibuster
https://medium.com/@beautyon_/the-bitcoin-filibuster-c12231f6feb3

3/2/17
Why I'm resigning as a 'moderator' of /r/btc
https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/5x3x7r/why_im_resigning_as_a_moderator_of_rbtc/

3/3/17
The Core Development Scalability Roadmap
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5xa5fa/the_core_development_scalability_roadmap/

3/4/17
The Origins of the Blocksize Debate
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5xg7f8/the_origins_of_the_blocksize_debate/

3/6/17
Bitcoin Realism or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love 1MB Blocks
https://medium.com/@jimmysong/bitcoin-realism-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-1mb-blocks-c191c35e74cb

3/7/17
MIT Expo Spotlights Bitcoin Tech Concerns
http://www.coindesk.com/save-the-nodes-mit-bitcoin-expo-spotlights-tech-challenges/

3/8/17
Economic Implications of Chain Splits and Resolution
https://medium.com/@alpalpalp/economic-implications-of-chain-splits-and-resolution-539c5fd0bc0c

3/8/17
Chain Splits and Resolutions
https://medium.com/@alpalpalp/chain-splits-and-resolutions-d3398bddf4ab

3/9/17
How Bitcoin Unlimited ( $BTU) will be erased
https://medium.com/@WhalePanda/how-bitcoin-unlimited-btu-will-be-erased-169977ecb3bb

3/9/17
Coinbase, Bitfinex Would List Bitcoin Unlimited As “Altcoin” After Soft Fork: Mow
https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-bitfinex-would-list-bitcoin-unlimited-as-altcoin-after-soft-fork-mow

3/10/17
Bitcoiners, get your priorities straight.
https://medium.com/@thepiratewhocantbenamed/bitcoiners-get-your-priorities-straight-a2297b870095

3/10/17
On the recent bout of malleated transactions
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5yojyp/on_the_recent_bout_of_malleated_transactions/

3/10/17
Reflections on Scaling and Bitcoin Protocol Development
https://cryptoinsider.com/reflections-scaling-bitcoin-protocol-development/

3/11/17
Nobody Understands Bitcoin (And That's OK)
http://www.coindesk.com/nobody-understands-bitcoin-thats-ok/

3/12/17
Bitcoin Miners Signal Revolt Amid Sluggish Blockchain
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-13/bitcoin-miners-signal-revolt-in-push-to-fix-sluggish-blockchain

3/12/17
Flag day activation of segwit [shaolinfry]
https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-March/013714.html

3/13/17
The Road to One Megabyte
https://medium.com/@bergealex4/the-road-to-one-megabyte-b3912a9dee3e

3/13/17
How to destroy bitcoin in 8 steps:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5z4l3e/how_to_destroy_bitcoin_in_8_steps

3/13/17
Ways to enhance Post-fork withering of Core chain [/u/gavinandresen]
https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/5z7wzj/ways_to_enhance_postfork_withering_of_core_chain/dewynk0/

3/14/17
Divisive ‘Bitcoin Unlimited’ Solution Crashes After Bug Discovered
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-15/divisive-bitcoin-unlimited-solution-crashes-after-bug-exploit

3/14/17
CoinDesk Explainer: The Bitcoin Unlimited Debate
http://www.coindesk.com/coindesk-explainer-bitcoin-unlimited-debate/

3/14/17
Bitcoin is. And that is enough.
https://medium.com/bitcoin-think/bitcoin-is-and-that-is-enough-e3116870eed1

3/14/17
Why Bitcoin Node Statistics Aren’t Trustworthy
https://medium.com/@jimmysong/why-bitcoin-node-statistics-arent-trustworthy-5882d9a9d2bf

3/15/17
Why Bitcoin Unlimited should be correctly classified as an ‘attempted robbery’ of Bitcoin, not a fork
https://medium.com/@Coinosphere/why-bitcoin-unlimited-should-be-correctly-classified-as-an-attempted-robbery-of-bitcoin-not-a-9355d075763c

3/15/17
Someone Wants to Stick a Fork in Bitcoin
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-03-16/someone-wants-to-stick-a-fork-in-bitcoin

3/15/17
Community Reacts to Bitcoin Unlimited Bug, Calls For SegWit Activation
https://cointelegraph.com/news/community-reacts-to-bitcoin-unlimited-bug-calls-for-segwit-activation

3/15/17
'Super UASF': Could a Clever Idea Break Bitcoin's Scaling Deadlock?
http://www.coindesk.com/could-the-super-uasf-break-bitcoins-scaling-deadlock/

3/15/17
Cypherpunk tears are shed for Bitcoin
https://keepingstock.net/cypherpunk-tears-are-shed-for-bitcoin-86e32ea61757

3/15/17
Bitcoiners: make no mistake! Even though it is very likely that BTU is now going the same way as XT and Classiccoin the re-centralization attempts will not stop.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5zgt72/bitcoiners_make_no_mistake_even_though_it_is_very/

3/15/17
A Fork in the Road
https://vinnylingham.com/a-fork-in-the-road-70288fd3c046

3/16/17
Bitcoin's Scaling Debate is Devolving Into an All-Out Twitter War
http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoins-scaling-debate-devolving-twitter-war/

3/17/17
Bitcoin Exchanges Unveil Hard Fork Contingency Plan
http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-exchanges-unveil-emergency-hard-fork-contingency-plan/

3/17/17
Adam, Greg, Core Devs and big blockers.. Now is the time for compromise. [maaku7]
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5zxjza/adam_greg_core_devs_and_big_blockers_now_is_the/df275yk/

Coinbase responds to industry letter.
3/18/17
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/606fot/coinbase_responds_to_industry_letter/?sort=controversial

Why Coinbase didn't sign the industry letter
3/18/17
https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/6060i2/why_coinbase_didnt_sign_the_industry_letter

3/18/17
How can we solve replay attacks in the event of a hard fork
https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/6065id/how_can_we_solve_replay_attacks_in_the_event_of_a

3/19/17
BIP for the mandatory activation of segwit by shaolinfry
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/60a8ya/bip_for_the_mandatory_activation_of_segwit_by

Jihan Wu's latest Weibo post looks like an offer to negotiate
3/20/17
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/60gem4/jihan_wus_latest_weibo_post_looks_like_an_offe

3/20/17
What happens to my bitcoins in TREZOR after a hard fork?
https://blog.trezor.io/contingency-plan-bitcoin-hard-fork-b6ce85cde028

3/20/17
My name is Meni Rosenfeld and I support Bitcoin Core.
https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/60jf4p/my_name_is_meni_rosenfeld_and_i_support_bitcoin

3/20/17
What would happen for Ledger hardware wallet users in case of a Bitcoin fork
https://medium.com/@Ledger/what-would-happen-for-ledger-hardware-wallet-users-in-case-of-a-bitcoin-fork-3b955a065d57

11/13/18
Bitmain No Longer Under Influence of Jihan Wu, Says Lawyer
https://bitcoinist.com/bitmain-jihan-wu-no-influence/

2/12/19
cypherdoc: "i think BU is dead. i don't say that with glee as i helped conceptualize and financially supported it. i just think they're exhausted."
https://bitco.in/forum/threads/gold-collapsing-bitcoin-up.16/page-1359#post-88359

2/19/19
Mining Giant Bitmain Posts $500 Million Loss in IPO Financial Filing
https://www.coindesk.com/mining-giant-bitmain-posts-500-million-loss-in-ipo-financial-filing


LMK your favorites and I'll update the list!

We need entries for Oct/Nov/Dec 2015.  There's a blank space there, but I'm sure plenty of notable events occurred in those months.

[1715107173]

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[1715107173]

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[1715107173]

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[Erkallys]

I proposed the term "secession" to describe Bitcoin Classic, but I have to say that "Bitcoin's Great Schism" is a lot better !

[iCEBREAKER]

I proposed the term "secession" to describe Bitcoin Classic, but I have to say that "Bitcoin's Great Schism" is a lot better !

Great Schism is the best because of its connotation with Byzantine generals and holy doctrinal conflict that normal people DGAF about but are nonetheless subjected to by the priest caste (resplendent in their shiny robes, funny hats, odd lifestyles, strange rituals, etc.)

C'mon you guys....I need more links to flesh out this skeleton of an OP!   

What were your favorite skirmishes thus far?

Aren't you sick of having to Search for "old" links, as we endlessly rehash the 20MB/8MB/2MB debate?

And think of the benefit to future internet anthropologists!  This thread should be their Rosetta Stone.   

[Foxpup]

Well, we can't very well talk about Byzantine generals without talking about military action.

8/17/15
Not Bitcoin XT
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1154520.0

I thought that was quite cute.

[iCEBREAKER]

Well, we can't very well talk about Byzantine generals without talking about military action.

8/17/15
Not Bitcoin XT
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1154520.0

I thought that was quite cute.

Good pick!  All warfare is based on deception...

The butthurt NotXT caused on the rump forums was epic.  The fact the Xturds didn't anticipate and plan for spoofed version signals despite being warned only shows they are clueless amateurs.

Classic.  Total classic!

[iCEBREAKER]

Updates added to OP:

6/10/15
Mike Hearn: In about 1-2 weeks, Bitcoin XT will include support for 20mb blocks
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1086736.0

6/13/15
Hearn's Worst Case Scenario: Checkpoints in XT to "ignore the longest chain"
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1089283.0

7/8/15
"Bitcoin" XT Status Update
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1115016.0

8/18/15
Bitcoin XT has code which downloads your IP address to facilitate blacklisting
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1156489.0

1/2/16
bitcoin "unlimited" seeks review
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1312371.0

[DannyHamilton]

What about jgarzik's attempt to force a hard fork to a 7.168 MB blocksize back on 2010-10-03?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1347.0

And Satoshi's great response that increasing the block size in the future will just require him to choose an activation block in the future and code the larger size to trigger on that block into all the versions between when the decision is made and when that block occurs:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1347.msg15366#msg15366

[iCEBREAKER]

What about jgarzik's attempt to force a hard fork to a 7.168 MB blocksize back on 2010-10-03?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1347.0

And Satoshi's great response that increasing the block size in the future will just require him to choose an activation block in the future and code the larger size to trigger on that block into all the versions between when the decision is made and when that block occurs:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1347.msg15366#msg15366

Excellent choice.  The deep background is required for context.

[brg444]

Great, great idea.

For my part I would like to beef up the rap sheet against one Gavin Andresen and shine light on the trail of evidence which supports his indictment as Bitcoin traitor and persona non grata.

Here is Gavin's history of attacks on Bitcoin using the block size as a proxy and purported motivations:

03/12/2013

The "Accidental" fork

Recently Bitcoin came close to unmitigated disaster, in the following way:Gavin diplomatically suggested that miners increase their block size, from the previous magic number of "250k" to something they themselves pick.This approach is flawed: the solution to the problem of having a magic number in the code is not passing the responsibility of choosing it to a larger group. It may work politically, in the sense that where large, vague groups are responsible for a bad move nobody will ever be hung. It does not work practically.

This point does not begin to get sufficient emphasis: stop thinking politically, stick to thinking practically. The political importance, usefulness or competence of a dev is nil. This is not your job, and more importantly this is one of the things you suck at the most. A casual skim through the -dev sessions is ample proof for this, more ridiculous dickwad posturing and knowshitism has never before been seen (outside of the mailing lists of some meanwhile failed open source projects). Snap out of it. Stick to writing code.

Note the foresight of MPOE-PR with regards to the events that came to unfold in the following years.

01/06/2015

The first magic numbers

My goal is to prove that it is safe to raise the maximum block size from 1MB to at least 20MB, with the existing Bitcoin Core code (no fancy invertible bloom filters, no hyper-optimized-for-the Bitcoin-elliptic-curve verification code).

...

My desktop machine (a quad-core, 16GB-memory, "Late 2012" iMac) can easily keep up with a 20-MB-per-block blockchain, and could even keep up with a 200-MB-per-block chain if run with bigger -maxsigcachesize and -dbcache settings.

http://gavintech.blogspot.ca/2015/01/looking-before-scaling-up-leap.html

01/20/2015

I'm confident that there are no technical barriers to scaling up

Executive summary: if we increased the maximum block size to 20 megabytes tomorrow, and every single miner decided to start creating 20MB blocks and there was a sudden increase in the number of transactions on the network to fill up those blocks....

... the 0.10.0 version of the reference implementation would run just fine.

http://gavintech.blogspot.ca/2015/01/twenty-megabytes-testing-results.html

Q3 2015

Why eight? Because it's a Chinese homonym for "prosper" or "wealth"

It crops up in the Chinese Bitcoin community all the time. So this choice obviously wasn't based on any kind of scientific analysis. Having Bitcoin protocol constants be decided by rhymes would obviously have been an embarrassment, but nonetheless, we compromised and did it. - Mike Hearn

https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=mike_hearn&next=10921219

More on the way...

[Bit_Happy]

...

And Satoshi's great response that increasing the block size in the future will just require him to choose an activation block in the future and code the larger size to trigger on that block into all the versions between when the decision is made and when that block occurs:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1347.msg15366#msg15366

Wow, it can still be that simple (done by the current devs), so why does everyone need to keep fighting over an endless "forking mess"?

[ebliever]

Early in my tenure here the topic of whether there would be one cryptocurrency or many successful ones came up. I pointed out that money has a variety of functions and uses, and that ideal money for each different application would involve different characteristics or priorities. You can't "have it all" with just one cryptocurrency. For example, a highly secure, highly valued "digital gold" crypto would have different ideal characteristics than a highly convenient, fast-transacting, low or zero fee crypto used for everyday purchases.

What I didn't anticipate is that this need for multiple optimized cryptocurrencies for every financial niche would become part of a great conflict within bitcoin itself. It didn't occur to me that bitcoin, with its lack of central authority, would itself become a battleground between people with different financial visions and priorities.

For the most part, all of these competing visions that are part of the bitcoin conflict reflect valid financial needs. There should be a successful cryptocurrency for each of them. But bitcoin, if it is to remain successful, can be only one of these. Somehow we need to arrive at a concensus as to what bitcoin is and is not. Once we have that, you'll be surprised how quickly we can figure out the path to promoting that vision and fixing the current limitations in the bitcoin protocol. But as long as we don't have that agreement, conflict will continue because the underlying visions are contradictory to one another.

In the short run, someone is going to have to win and someone is going to have to lose regarding the question of what bitcoin shall be. Hopefully the losers can rally to a new flag and make other crypto(s) successful for the niches they have in mind. In the long run, we all win by building all the pieces of a full-fledged cryptocurrency financial ecosystem, with many different altcoins thriving along with (not in conflict with) bitcoin.

My 2 satoshis,
ebliever

[Kakmakr]

Whilst we fight over the technical details, the competitors are gaining ground on us with their technologies. We need to resolve this matter, and move forward with whatever solution benefit the majority. This is a nice thread, but it shows a deeper problem.

We need a faster mechanism to resolve smaller issues, or we will lose the competitive advantage. A decentralized permissioned blockchain, will have a defined development structure and they will make decisions quickly.   

[iCEBREAKER]

Whilst we fight over the technical details, the competitors are gaining ground on us with their technologies. We need to resolve this matter, and move forward with whatever solution benefit the majority. This is a nice thread, but it shows a deeper problem.

We need a faster mechanism to resolve smaller issues, or we will lose the competitive advantage. A decentralized permissioned blockchain, will have a defined development structure and they will make decisions quickly.   

This thread is for compiling a list of references that helps people interested in Bitcoin's Great Schism.

Please cite a thread that exemplifies what you're talking about.  Editorializing is off-topic.

[unamis76]

Interesting thread. We might be able to achieve a kind of "conductive wire" of ideas with this chronological ordering of threads about block size and related issues. It will be interesting when this is all over to go back and see how people's minds and ideas developed throughout this "Great Schism", as OP calls it I'd like to contribute: this was one of my favorite threads.

[iCEBREAKER]

[blah blah blah]

[blah blah blah]

[blah blah blah]

This thread is for compiling a list of references that helps people interested in the history of Bitcoin's Great Schism.

Editorializing is off-topic.

Please cite a thread that exemplifies what you're talking about OR DO NOT POST.

Thank you,

The Managment

[iCEBREAKER]

Interesting thread. We might be able to achieve a kind of "conductive wire" of ideas with this chronological ordering of threads about block size and related issues. It will be interesting when this is all over to go back and see how people's minds and ideas developed throughout this "Great Schism", as OP calls it I'd like to contribute: this was one of my favorite threads.

8/15/15
Big block support observer
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1153957.0

Added to OP.

TYVM!   

[iCEBREAKER]

Great, great idea.

For my part I would like to beef up the rap sheet against one Gavin Andresen and shine light on the trail of evidence which supports his indictment as Bitcoin traitor and persona non grata.

Here is Gavin's history of attacks on Bitcoin using the block size as a proxy and purported motivations:

[famously Bad Ideas]

More on the way...

Right, we do need more entries in the 'WTF were they thinking' category.

Keep'em coming!  Let's use the original title (if available) and OP format.

Added to OP:

3/11/13
In re Bitcoin Devs are idiots
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=152027

1/6/15
Looking before the Scaling Up Leap
http://gavintech.blogspot.ca/2015/01/looking-before-scaling-up-leap.html

1/12/15
Twenty Megabytes testing results
http://gavintech.blogspot.ca/2015/01/twenty-megabytes-testing-results.html

1/18/16
Hearn: 8MB "obviously wasn't based on any kind of scientific analysis"
https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=mike_hearn&next=10921219

[watashi-kokoto]

26.2-28.2 Satoshi Roundtable – Private Blockchain Retreat

Wondering if the participant's visions become aligned with the establishment' vision during the event.

[iCEBREAKER]

9/30/10
Re: Prioritized transactions, and tx fees
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1314.msg14750#msg14750

That hard limit is going to have to be bumped up if/when Bitcoin takes off.  463 transactions per minute wouldn't be anywhere near viable for a worldwide online currency.  We, at least, need to be able to handle the number of average transactions per minute that paypal claims they currently average.

+1

Scaling to high transaction rate has always been my main concern about viability of bitcoin.  I'm much more concerned about scalability than government shutdown, for example.

[iCEBREAKER]

Added to OP:

2/5/16
[bitcoin-dev] BIP proposal: Increase block size limit to 2 megabytes
http://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2016-February/012358.html

'In which Gavin's preposterous BIP is promptly savaged by all the qualified experts, and *comedy intensifies*.'

Thanks to my highly-placed source for this juicy bit of ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes.