[2014-09-02] Bitcoin is Really Fragile” – Bitcoin Core Developer Mike Hearn

[patricktim]

http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/news/bitcoin-really-fragile-bitcoin-core-developer-mike-hearn/2014/09/01

Remember that first group of people we talked about earlier? This bullish behaviour is not what Bitcoin needs in order to grow. Hearn states that the people trying to pump Bitcoin are usually not at all close to the development and have no clue about the state of the code at this moment. The development team tries to act as a counterpart to these people, making sure that the world realizes that Bitcoin is still in beta. The code has flaws and weaknesses which lead to unlucky events. Hearn specifically talks about malleability attacks, which is said to be the main reason Mt. Gox was hacked earlier this year. The development team knew about malleability attacks for almost two years; they weren’t addressing it because there were even more urgent matters that needed to be dealt with. Given the impact that Mt. Gox had on Bitcoin, that is a bold statement to make. Still, it boils down to his first concern; Bitcoin needs more people actively working on the protocol.

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[ruletheworld]

All these companies raising tens of millions of dollars need to start investing in the core protocol, have their developers spend, say, 20% of the time on the protocol as opposed to working solely on their products.

[gmaxwell]

Jeff's comments, and my (I'm nullc on reddit) comments: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2f6iiq/bitcoin_is_really_fragile_bitcoin_core_developer/ck6es4t#ck6es4t

[the joint]

In my opinion, this is an excellent thread with an even more excellent approach from developers.  Please continue to be vocal about this.

This really needs to be talked about more.  Even though I think people are generally more clever, in a social setting like this forum personal opinions tend to represent extremes and false dichotomies, e.g. Bitcoin is the first/best/safest/most-brilliant/most-awesomest thing ever (as well as a global poor-person eliminator and all around baby-saver), or it's a NSA/CIA/YMCA-run Ponzi-bubble scheme for potheads.

Almost every valid complaint that I can think of -- ease-of-use, volatility, exchange centralization, disproportionate mining and supply share, etc. -- can be plausibly explained by Bitcoin's infancy.  Give the code, the network, and the rest of the market some time.

[Honeybooboo]

Hearn states that the people trying to pump Bitcoin are usually not at all close to the development and have no clue about the state of the code at this moment.

Of course this is a given. The people who 'pump' it don't care about bitcoin or the technology behind it they just want to make money off of it as soon as possible. Unfortunately there's always going to be these types of people.