The 10 principles in Bitcoin

[hazek]

What would you say to the following list and descriptions of the principles Bitcoin is built upon:

• consistency - the total supply of bitcoins to ever exist is forever arbitrarily limited and fixed
• tangibility - issuing new bitcoins requires labor in the form of finding a specific tangible number as a solution to a specific cryptographic math problem
• transparency - all Bitcoin transactions are public and forever stored in the blockchain for anyone to see
• anonymity - all Bitcoin transaction are only between cryptographical pseudonyms without the need to have their true identity revealed
• security - all confirmed Bitcoin transactions are with mathematical certainty irreversible, all bitcoins are with mathematical certainty non-counterfeitable
• decentralization - Bitcoin has no central authority and is voluntarily run by consenting autonomous peers in a peer to peer network
• self-ownership - only the owner of a pseudonym gets the password to spend his bitcoins in effect making them his property unless he chooses otherwise
• integrity - all bitcoins are counted equally(are fungible), virtually can’t be frozen or blocked from being spent
• practicality - Bitcoin works anywhere, for anyone, non-stop, and the protocol allows for many practical layers on top, just like email, http..
• rationalism - the Bitcoin software is written under the MIT open source license and is not a logically inconsistent intellectual property of anyone but merely organized information everyone can use as they wish

Did I miss/too loosely describe anything?

So I've amended the list and made a few other improvements. I threw out scarcity and replaced it with consistency. I was debating between consistency and predictability and in the end decided that predictable doesn't quite capture the certainty of the fixed supply, soundness is also an option that I'm still considering. I changed the description of tangibility. I followed the advice given and replaced virtually with mathematically. Decentralization I felt needed a bit clearer description so I changed it. I replaced capitalism with a lot more politically neutral and philosophically clearer self-ownership.

I also found the 10th principle to round up the number of principles:

[1715189080]

1715189080

[1715189080]

1715189080

[1715189080]

1715189080

[siesatsu]

+1

[21after2]

What would you say to the following list and descriptions of the principles Bitcoin is built upon:

• consistency - the total supply of bitcoins to ever exist is forever arbitrarily limited and fixed
• tangibility - issuing new bitcoins requires labor in the form of finding a specific tangible number as a solution to a specific cryptographic math problem
• transparency - all Bitcoin transactions are public and forever stored in the blockchain for anyone to see
• anonymity - all Bitcoin transaction are only between cryptographical pseudonyms without the need to have their true identity revealed
• security - all confirmed Bitcoin transactions are with mathematical certainty irreversible, all bitcoins are with mathematical certainty non-counterfeitable
• decentralization - Bitcoin has no central authority and is voluntarily run by consenting autonomous peers in a peer to peer network
• self-ownership - only the owner of a pseudonym gets the password to spend his bitcoins in effect making them his property unless he chooses otherwise
• integrity - all bitcoins are counted equally(are fungible), virtually can’t be frozen or blocked from being spent
• practicality - Bitcoin works anywhere, for anyone, non-stop, and the protocol allows for many practical layers on top, just like email, http..
• rationalism - the Bitcoin software is written under the MIT open source license and is not a logically inconsistent intellectual property of anyone but merely organized information everyone can use as they wish

Did I miss/too loosely describe anything?

So I've amended the list and made a few other improvements. I threw out scarcity and replaced it with consistency. I was debating between consistency and predictability and in the end decided that predictable doesn't quite capture the certainty of the fixed supply, soundness is also an option that I'm still considering. I changed the description of tangibility. I followed the advice given and replaced virtually with mathematically. Decentralization I felt needed a bit clearer description so I changed it. I replaced capitalism with a lot more politically neutral and philosophically clearer self-ownership.

I also found the 10th principle to round up the number of principles:

Looks pretty damn good. It could maybe be cleaned up a little bit, but the basic principles are good to go.

[cypherdoc]

it is pretty good.  i still think determinate works better than consistency. 

[thoughtfan]

it is pretty good.  i still think determinate works better than consistency. 

...and after all the back and forths on it I'm convinced by finite now

[Luno]

We have Genesis in book form on how Satoshi thought the coin into existence.

So we are working on the ten commandmends now?

Will he send his son one day to save world economics, as we were mislead and thrown from nerd Eden?

[hazek]

We have Genesis in book form on how Satoshi thought the coin into existence.

So we are working on the ten commandmends now?

Will he send his son one day to save world economics, as we were mislead and thrown from nerd Eden?

It's a description not a prescription, obviously.

[hazek]

it is pretty good.  i still think determinate works better than consistency. 

...and after all the back and forths on it I'm convinced by finite now

Hm....

[Johnathan]

it is pretty good.  i still think determinate works better than consistency. 

...and after all the back and forths on it I'm convinced by finite now

I don't see where anyone has mentioned it before, but I would rather see 'predictable' used here.  We know very closely how many BTC will exist at a certain point in the future.  When people make the decision to convert fiat to bitcoin, to buy or sell goods and services in bitcoin, or to convert bitcoin back to fiat, they can be assured that bitcoins won't magically disappear, or that new ones won't be created at a rate not known ahead of time.

This property of 'predictability' derives from the distributed consensus of recorded transactions (blockchain) and the periodic adjustment of mining difficulty, and stands in stark contrast to fiat money supply. 

Even physical metal-based money only loosely approximates this.

[hazek]

it is pretty good.  i still think determinate works better than consistency. 

...and after all the back and forths on it I'm convinced by finite now

I don't see where anyone has mentioned it before, but I would rather see 'predictable' used here.  We know very closely how many BTC will exist at a certain point in the future.  When people make the decision to convert fiat to bitcoin, to buy or sell goods and services in bitcoin, or to convert bitcoin back to fiat, they can be assured that bitcoins won't magically disappear, or that new ones won't be created at a rate not known ahead of time.

This property of 'predictability' derives from the distributed consensus of recorded transactions (blockchain) and the periodic adjustment of mining difficulty, and stands in stark contrast to fiat money supply. 

Even physical metal-based money only loosely approximates this.

I'm actually starting to lean heavily towards finite. I don't know but both predictable and the current consistent is way too loose for just how fixed Bitcoin's supply is.. what about soundness as a principle, wouldn't that fit Bitcoin very nicely?

soundness
 
sound
2 [sound] adjective, sound·er, sound·est, adverb.
adjective
1. free from injury, damage, defect, disease, etc.; in good condition; healthy; robust: a sound heart; a sound mind.
2. financially strong, secure, or reliable: a sound business; sound investments.
3. competent, sensible, or valid: sound judgment.
4. having no defect as to truth, justice, wisdom, or reason: sound advice.
5. of substantial or enduring character: sound moral values.

[jamesg]

I'm actually starting to lean heavily towards finite.

fiat == infinite expansion possibilities
bitcoin == the exact opposite of infinite == finite limit of 21m

[Johnathan]

I'm actually starting to lean heavily towards finite. I don't know but both predictable and the current consistent is way too loose for just how fixed Bitcoin's supply is.. what about soundness as a principle, wouldn't that fit Bitcoin very nicely?

soundness
 
sound
2 [sound] adjective, sound·er, sound·est, adverb.
adjective
1. free from injury, damage, defect, disease, etc.; in good condition; healthy; robust: a sound heart; a sound mind.
2. financially strong, secure, or reliable: a sound business; sound investments.
3. competent, sensible, or valid: sound judgment.
4. having no defect as to truth, justice, wisdom, or reason: sound advice.
5. of substantial or enduring character: sound moral values.

My only concern with 'finite' is, that while true, it has a subtle connotation of 'fixed'.  The supply of bitcoin in circulation is only fixed after a very long time from now (but until then its growth rate is predictable )

Regarding 'sound', that's a conclusion based on a judgement call, not an objective fact about bitcoin (much as I agree with all the above.)

[cbeast]

It's cool to see threads like this where folks try to wrap their minds around reified notions. Some find ontological debates tedious. With Bitcoin, I find it fascinating. Money is man's greatest god and here we are writing his ten commandments.  

I would like to see this broken down into sections. One describing the mechanical attributes, one describing the practical social attributes, and a third describing the potential disruptive attributes.

[hazek]

I'm actually starting to lean heavily towards finite.

fiat == infinite expansion possibilities
bitcoin == the exact opposite of infinite == finite limit of 21m

Hm gooood point! You convinced me and I'm going to change it.

[notme]

I'm actually starting to lean heavily towards finite. I don't know but both predictable and the current consistent is way too loose for just how fixed Bitcoin's supply is.. what about soundness as a principle, wouldn't that fit Bitcoin very nicely?

soundness
 
sound
2 [sound] adjective, sound·er, sound·est, adverb.
adjective
1. free from injury, damage, defect, disease, etc.; in good condition; healthy; robust: a sound heart; a sound mind.
2. financially strong, secure, or reliable: a sound business; sound investments.
3. competent, sensible, or valid: sound judgment.
4. having no defect as to truth, justice, wisdom, or reason: sound advice.
5. of substantial or enduring character: sound moral values.

My only concern with 'finite' is, that while true, it has a subtle connotation of 'fixed'.  The supply of bitcoin in circulation is only fixed after a very long time from now (but until then its growth rate is predictable )

Regarding 'sound', that's a conclusion based on a judgement call, not an objective fact about bitcoin (much as I agree with all the above.)

As a mathematician, finite has no such connotation in my mind.

[Technomage]

I had some issues with the list at first but the improved version seems really good. I will probably translate this to Finnish at some point and add to our site.

It could be a good idea to put something like this to Wikipedia as well. Not sure if it would stick but it doesn't hurt to try.

[hazek]

I had some issues with the list at first but the improved version seems really good. I will probably translate this to Finnish at some point and add to our site.

It could be a good idea to put something like this to Wikipedia as well. Not sure if it would stick but it doesn't hurt to try.

I'm building my own site, that's what this is all about. I wasn't confident in the initial list so I decided to field test it and clearly it was a good decision