The 10 principles in Bitcoin

[hazek]

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

• finiteness - unlike the infinite supply of fiat currencies 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 number by solving a 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?

[1713856210]

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[1713856210]

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[Bowjob]

You forgot.. it will make you rich someday.. 

[21after2]

I wouldn't necessarily call the first principle scarcity since they aren't exactly rare. I would find another term to describe the set amount.

Anarchy probably isn't a good term for promoting BitCoin to the common consumer. We want it to gain credibility, not infamy

[hazek]

I wouldn't necessarily call the first principle scarcity since they aren't exactly rare. I would find another term to describe the set amount.

Anarchy probably isn't a good term for promoting BitCoin to the common consumer. We want it to gain credibility, not infamy

Got a better word to describe the same principle?

[MatthewLM]

Got a better word to describe the same principle?

anarchy - Bitcoin has no central authority and is run by autonomous peers in a peer to peer network

You could have decentralised.

[hazek]

Got a better word to describe the same principle?

anarchy - Bitcoin has no central authority and is run by autonomous peers in a peer to peer network

You could have decentralised.

I'm looking for principles not engineering methods.

EDIT: on second thought, you just gave me a brilliant idea! I looked at http://thesaurus.com/browse/anarchy and to my dismay this word's meaning is generally used completely differently than how I use it. I 100% realize the meaning of words is just a commonly shared subjective preference and therefor it's a very good idea to use the most commonly shared preference if one's goal is to best communicate one's ideas.

So I replaced anarchy with decentralization and the idea you gave is to start calling anarcho capitalism decentralized capitalism!

[cypherdoc]

i don't think the word has to end in a -y to be a principle.

1.  scarcity:  i've never liked this word either.  gold isn't scarce; yet its more valuable than fiat b/c its supply is fixed.  how about "determinate" as in fixed?

2.  anarchy:  i don't like this principle either.  what's wrong with "decentralized"?  is that not a principle?

2.  security - all confirmed Bitcoin transactions are with virtual mathematical certainty irreversible, all bitcoins are with virtual mathematical certainty non-double spendable

[hazek]

i don't think the word has to end in a -y to be a principle.

1.  scarcity:  i've never liked this word either.  gold isn't scarce; yet its more valuable than fiat b/c its supply is fixed.  how about "determinate" as in fixed?

Don't like that.

2.  anarchy:  i don't like this principle either.  what's wrong with "decentralized"?  is that not a principle?

Yup. Changed it already.

3.  security - all confirmed Bitcoin transactions are with virtual mathematical certainty irreversible, all bitcoins are with virtual mathematical certainty non-double spendable

I don't think that's accurate.

[vampire]

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

• decentralization - Bitcoin has no central authority and is run by autonomous peers in a peer to peer network

Hmm. I would disagree on that one. There is a central authority right now (or they claim to be), the Bitcoin foundation. I remember you were quiet pissed about that, but the fact is still that lead developers are the authority at the moment.

And you may have talked about  the network infrastructure, but since you include the word "authority", it somewhat applies anyone who has control over the project.

[cypherdoc]

3.  security - all confirmed Bitcoin transactions are with virtual mathematical certainty irreversible, all bitcoins are with virtual mathematical certainty non-double spendable

I don't think that's accurate.

ah, you're right.  i took your meaning of "virtual" the wrong way.  how about this?:  

3.  security - all confirmed Bitcoin transactions are with virtual mathematical probability irreversible, all bitcoins are with virtual mathematical probability non-double spendable

[hazek]

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

• decentralization - Bitcoin has no central authority and is run by autonomous peers in a peer to peer network

Hmm. I would disagree on that one. There is a central authority right now (or they claim to be), the Bitcoin foundation. I remember you were quiet pissed about that, but the fact is still that lead developers are the authority at the moment.

You are mistaken. They are but a voice, just like everyone else.

[iCEBREAKER]

Did I miss anything?

• drama - the unpredictable social/economic/mathematical results of satoshi's ingeniously novel experiment guarantee spectators will be unable to look away, and compelled to join in the fun as participants

[BCB]

Vampire,

while the foundation was formed to pay the dev's and take a lead in the further development of the bitcoin protocol, the foundation itself could disappear tomorrow and bitcoin would continue to exist.

[21after2]

I wouldn't necessarily call the first principle scarcity since they aren't exactly rare. I would find another term to describe the set amount.

Anarchy probably isn't a good term for promoting BitCoin to the common consumer. We want it to gain credibility, not infamy

Got a better word to describe the same principle?

Resolute maybe? It would describe the set amount and the attitude of the BitCoin community all in one.

[vampire]

Vampire,

while the foundation was formed to pay the dev's and take a lead in the further development of the bitcoin protocol, the foundation itself could disappear tomorrow and bitcoin would continue to exist.

Well companies don't stay forever, the products do. I refreshed my memory and bitcoin foundation does imply itself as a central "authority":

Bitcoin Foundation standardizes, protects and promotes the use of Bitcoin cryptographic money for the benefit of users worldwide.

I do remember this BIP 16 war about a year ago.

[BCB]

From the linux foundation's website:

"Since its inception in 1991, Linux has grown to become a force in computing, powering everything from the New York Stock Exchange to mobile phones to supercomputers to consumer devices. The Linux Foundation is the nonprofit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux. Founded in 2000, the Linux Foundation sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and is supported by leading technology companies and developers from around the world.

The Linux Foundation promotes, protects and advances Linux by marshaling the resources of its members and the open source development community to ensure Linux remains free and technically advanced."

The only difference from bitcoin foundation is the call to standardize the protocol. 

Are you saying the Linux foundation is the "central authority" of the Linux platform?

[grondilu]

The word "anarchy" would not fit indeed since it would conflict with the very existence of these rules/principles   

[vampire]

Are you saying the Linux foundation is the "central authority" of the Linux platform?

Yes? Well at least the kernel. It was actually my point. Linus does decide the direction of Linux.

http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/resources/benevolentdictatorgovernancemodel

[cypherdoc]

i think you need to add a #10, and i know you're gonna love this one.  we've disagreed about it before but i still think Bitcoin is:

10.  democratic-as in fair to all who care to participate on an individual basis.  even if you disagree with the term, there is nothing in the other 9 principles that indicate fairness, which i think is a fundamental reason why ppl are willing to participate.

[kjj]

Are you saying the Linux foundation is the "central authority" of the Linux platform?

Yes? Well at least the kernel. It was actually my point. Linus does decide the direction of Linux.

http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/resources/benevolentdictatorgovernancemodel

Ugh.  Linus is benevolent dictator for life of the project that bears his name.  However, if anyone doesn't like his decisions, they can fork.

In bitcoin, the situation is totally opposite.  If anyone wanted to make a big change, they would be the fork, and they'd have to convince all of us to switch.  Bitcoin is decentralized in the sense that no one has the capacity to make big decisions for the network.