@kristovatlas @jonhbit Indeed; general problem is that we waste time arguing about protocol changes when we don’t start from same principles
RT @mikebelshe: It’s a pleasure to work with @lopp @bitgo - today he writes on how to save bitcoin @coindesk https://t.co/CQdN4fJUhv
@AscensionKelsey Armory mode shouldn’t matter; to verify your node is accepting connections use “check node” tool at bitnodes.21.co
@AscensionKelsey I recommend checking out this great guide to running a node: bitcoin.org/en/full-node
A change in Bitcoin Core 0.11 to counter Eclipse attacks quadrupled size of address manager: https://t.co/3jt5RKXLL0 https://t.co/8rKVhRC7Tx
@taoeffect @JustusRanvier @kristovatlas It sounds like this is a contentious issue without consensus :-D
@kristovatlas @JustusRanvier It’s possible to make a change to a system that simultaneously decentralizes one aspect and centralizes another
@kristovatlas @JustusRanvier Sure: (de)centralization is not a metric, it’s a direction. It can be applied to any number of actual metrics.

kristovatlas I’m still jazzed that @BitGo added a Google Authenticator option for 2FA for extra privacy. pic.twitter.com/7FfGWFVds5
@JustusRanvier @coindesk Hooray for segwit!
@JustusRanvier @coindesk Devs should provide node operators with high value at low cost in order to get more decentralization :-)
@JustusRanvier @coindesk We need UTXO commitments
@JustusRanvier @coindesk Indeed - I don’t see “centralization” or “decentralization” as metrics, but rather directions of movement.

coindesk In-Depth: How to Save Bitcoin’s Node Network from Centralization bit.ly/1OXiDhd by @lopp pic.twitter.com/TFF9oYmFf9
Enjoyed visiting @camharvey’s Innovation & Cryptoventures class at @DukeFuqua. @mac_devine shared insight on @IBM’s blockchain IoT work. :-)
If you want an energy drink that’s healthy and tastes refreshing rather than sugary, try @drinkmati. https://t.co/1Z7B4QSfux
@DollarJones But the thing about Bitcoin is that the status quo is extremely strong. This is a strength - makes it hard to corrupt.
@DollarJones When voice fails, the only alternative is exit - each node operator must run the rules they want and hope others follow.
@DollarJones Via hierarchies, sure. Which is how it works now. Teams of developers debate changes & offer code to users to run.

Performance improvements: despite tx volume & block sizes increasing, block validation is 10X faster than 1 year ago pic.twitter.com/cIeoOXFCAG
@bitstein @pierre_rochard I hear we might get gigatweets soon!
@pierre_rochard Twitter is the platform of reductionism :-)
Similarly, everything above choosing and running your own code (trying to influence code others run) is politics. https://t.co/OP8GXAvxvr
Every Bitcoin user is expected to act in their own interest.
Every user chooses the rules to which they agree.
Consensus emerges organically
Bitcoin does not have:
* Governance
* A social contract
* Any (technically) unchangeable rules

Kudos @TeslaMotors for rolling out autopilot motorcycle detection. Human drivers are one of our greatest dangers. pic.twitter.com/7mY4tNzaV3
@DigiEconomist Yeah, soft forks are complicated.
@ollekullberg Just using it to help prioritize my interests :-)
ELI5: segregated witness’ fork firmness is somewhere in between soft and hard. https://t.co/kS8joJDNbL https://t.co/EKALKnAKLF
@adam3us Sounds like “fundamental principles” to me; not sure “social contract” is best term. Gold’s properties aren’t subject to consensus.
@adam3us What do you mean by Bitcoin’s social contract? A “social contract” generally implies that individuals consent to be governed.
What should I write about next?
Feel free to tweet other ideas at me.
@MadBitcoins @_jonasschnelli_ Immutability is only achievable for the past, though it would be cool if someone figure out future-proofing it
@MadBitcoins @_jonasschnelli_ Agreed; it’s possible from a technical perspective but not from a real-world perspective.
@MadBitcoins @_jonasschnelli_ *shrugs* I read that as an axiom of the protocol, not as a statement that it’s feasible or he supports it.
@Piotr14Tra Only time will tell, but in general if people want to transact and fees are > a few percent, they’ll likely use another network.
@_jonasschnelli_ @MadBitcoins From a technical standpoint he’s completely correct; I suspect that’s the perspective he’s viewing it from.
@jgarzik @TuurDemeester Anyone is free to vote for it by running code, but ask the perpetual-50BTC-block-reward forkers how well that works.
In the land of the Lightning Network and high on-chain transaction fees the bitcoin HODLer is king.
@ziggamon @TuurDemeester It becomes murky because there’s no clear definition of which is the “real” Bitcoin in case of chain forks.
@TuurDemeester Every rule in the Bitcoin protocol is perpetually up for vote. Machine consensus must be found in meatspace.
RT @desantis: I want a #Bitcoin Block Explorer with @Genius-like annotation abilities! If you’re interested in helping build such a system,…
@kristovatlas GHash.io still clinging to life at 1%
I heard that the Islamic State uses gold; @Europol clearly needs to scrutinize gold users. https://t.co/IUanK5bZUZ

What is blockchain? It’s a lot of things, but first and foremost it’s a common noun in need of an article. pic.twitter.com/2JOdl8nA2R
RT @masonic_tweets: Trustless Bitcoin IRA masterclass live at @BitGo this morning by @lopp https://t.co/V7ooqHQrUP https://t.co/By0sBwy4xy
@ChrisArnesen Bitcore maintains indexes that bitcoind does not, making it more suitable for enterprise usage. Also, it’s NodeJS vs C++
A new config param (maxuploadtarget) is available in Core 0.12 for node operators to limit upstream bandwidth usage. https://t.co/Xo5v9Y0ciF

At a minimum price of $100 / month, running a Bitcore node on @Microsoft @Azure will be limited to businesses. pic.twitter.com/REzUST8RjO
@Xentagz Worst case scenario is possibly that recipients will receive bitcoin deposits in their wallets that never confirm.
@Xentagz Bitcoin itself will be fine; it depends on what the transactions are doing. Doesn’t look like these will get into blocks.
@orweinberger That would require some heavier-duty blockchain analysis since the “cost” will only be for the txs that actually get confirmed
@orweinberger Attacker seems to be running out of steam https://t.co/zD7bVd9kHZ
Confirmed malicious network activity: see the 3rd chart for rejected transactions. https://t.co/y4QDDzKpMa https://t.co/Am2ZxFJZhG
@Net_Management It’s too expensive to get into for-profit mining these days; check out my educational resources at bitcoinsig.com
@ryanxcharles Ha, on a related note it looks like that @Beautyon_ account blocked me for some reason.
@pig_poetry shhhh, let’s just distill the complexities of life into 3 word answers
You find a bug in an open source library you’re using. Do you…
@matthew_d_green When one side argues “doing X centralizes system in terms of Y” & other argues “not X will centralize Z,” everyone loses.
Mesh networking + bitcoin = free internet access + ability to negotiate priority latency & bandwidth routing w/micropayments.
In a perfectly decentralized Internet, everyone is their own ISP. Mesh networking is the path forward. https://t.co/QzMQNkHNTQ
Honey laundering is a serious problem; the government wants its cut! https://t.co/MKPEXtmr3K
Is this the first Bitcoin node running on @Microsoft @Azure? https://t.co/AVDgq7askc https://t.co/90Ox8t8i0M
“I’m dismantling & unincorporating Datt, Inc… it will not be possible to shut down the decentralized system that is Datt” - @ryanxcharles
RT @drwasho: Sure to upset both sides of the #Bitcoin block size debate! https://t.co/x2wn3Kno9g
Gold star to @VitalikButerin for displaying the power of soft forks, given sufficient creativity. https://t.co/2lFGWhA7cZ

New eye candy from @port8333 - a live map of Bitcoin nodes. bitnodes.21.co/nodes/live-map/ pic.twitter.com/fERUw2cRQF
Lightning Network! https://t.co/4kovn44AQJ
Lightning Network! https://t.co/e5GxYd0W2M
Lightning Network! https://t.co/xDop8cC0x3
@FX_Investierung @Forbes Just because you don’t find it useful does not reduce its utility to those who do. https://t.co/76lcO3lTR6
@Forbes @masonic_tweets Bookmark for future use: isbitcoindead.com
@n1ckler Seems to be much better than obfuscation to me since even @ShapeShift_io won’t be able to link your Zcash deposit to original BTC.
@rjurney Did you try deleting large attachments? I’d have exceeded 20GB years ago if not for regular maintenance. https://t.co/XrLV7iJ6Xd
@thebitledger @jgarzik Core has built a good reputation over the years; it’s as simple as that. No other project has their lengthy history.
@coolbearcjs @jgarzik @kristovatlas @BitcoinMagazine Yep, that’s why Core is seen as safe option. Evaluating new code & coders isn’t easy.
@coolbearcjs @jgarzik @kristovatlas @BitcoinMagazine I follow no man - I follow code. Unfortunately, not everyone understands code.
.@ShapeShift_io + @zcashco = @chainalysis-breaker.
Cursory glance at realtime transactions shows the vast majority pay 0.000X000 BTC - clearly hardcoded & not dynamic. Not a smart fee market.
Core Devs won’t admit it, but Core is an authority because many users trust them and won’t exit when voice fails. https://t.co/U405W3fVjk
When you spend an unconfirmed bitcoin output you’re spending money you don’t have.
@ziggamon We don’t release many metrics, though we did recently claim to have a majority market share of P2SH usage https://t.co/Y75xJxk2Hm
@ziggamon You need to have an Instant-enabled @BitGo wallet in order to send a transaction, but not to receive.
@SwiftOnSecurity @twobitidiot 2.0 or bust
@kristovatlas @SatoshiLite @zooko Then @jtoomim must be SatoshiClassic
@gmelika Such a waste of resources; both camps are still trying to gather support but it seems like most people have made up their minds.
Rhetoric of block size debate has changed in recent months but vitriol remains the same. Now seeing “ivory tower” vs “populist” attacks.
@flyosity I think the bigger problem is assuming that @POTUS can take credit for them. I’ll grant the uninsured metric to him.
@CoinAurora Not sure; it’s a difficult topic to research. Though I’m intrigued by Monero’s new “automatic hard fork every 6 months” plan.
Poor comparison @IMFNews; Bitcoin mining isn’t “cost of production” it’s “cost of security.” https://t.co/2yySrXeMU9 https://t.co/SANKrzfhgP
RT @a_greenberg: Zcash, the untraceable cryptocurrency originally known as Zerocoin, just launched in alpha for testing: https://t.co/IREam…
RT @CrimeADay: 31 USC §5111(d)(2), 31 CFR §82.1(a) & 82.2(d) make it a federal crime to melt a nickel, but not if it’s a 1942, 1943, 1944, …
@brianchoffman Yeah I have a feeling Storj’s channel is probably one of the oldest
Current @SlackHQ member counts:
@AugurProject: 521
#Bitcoin Core: 645
#Bitcoin Classic: 872
@21: 1249
@openbazaar: 1420
@storjproject: 3619
“[Greed] is the reason clearest to me for Bitcoin’s failure.” - @wadhwa
Actually, greed is what keeps it running… https://t.co/Px2dn3QjPq
Any Bitcoin business, whether using a @BitGo wallet or not, may use our API to safely receive Instant transactions. https://t.co/Wk8raIEDsZ
RT @masonic_tweets: Instant transactions now live on the @BitGo platform https://t.co/dwztUWf5aJ
RT @evanbooth: Hey @Microsoft — where’s the “None Whatsoever” option? https://t.co/s12rTADs8N
@LarryBitcoin @JeromeLegoupil @coindesk They’re quite similar, though AFAIK @BitGo is the only 0-conf solution w/a money back guarantee.
@coinbase Would have been nice if you’d requested more info about my biz account before I went to make my annual BTC purchase.
.@BitGo Instant txns come w/a cryptographically signed guarantee it won’t be double spent. https://t.co/6fPPlalGQC https://t.co/Wk8raIEDsZ
Excited to announce the launch of @BitGo Instant transactions! bitgo.com/instant
RT @mikebelshe: My thoughts on the blocksize debate. https://t.co/BTQCbhdbp9
RT @bendavenport: Just published my thoughts on one way to move forward towards resolution in the Bitcoin block size debate: https://t.co/l…
7) IMO each proposed change to Bitcoin’s consensus rules should be evaluated on its own regarding if it’s best suited as a hard or soft fork
6) Hard forks can be used as a countermeasure against soft forks adopted by miners without the ecosystem’s consent.
5) Soft forks can be used to counterbalance hard forks that remove too many restrictions from the previous version of the protocol.
4) Soft forks degrade security for nodes that don’t upgrade.
Hard forks break security for nodes that don’t upgrade.
3) Soft forks require a dozen entities (mining pools) to upgrade.
Hard forks require thousands of entities (nodes) to upgrade.
2) Trade-offs between hard & soft forks are complex; neither type is inherently safer. Either can be detrimental to the ecosystem.
1) “Soft forks are safer than hard forks!†- https://t.co/M0FAeABly4
“Not necessarily!†- https://t.co/m5ybMOfHnS

Hello, exahash era! bitcoin.sipa.be pic.twitter.com/Ev09ivhoct

RCasatta Updated #blockchain #op_return stats. Protocols are now grouped. Here is the new pie. opreturn-976.appspot.com pic.twitter.com/kROTKLj4Ov
@kristovatlas The easiest way to censor transactions is to be a custodial wallet!
@1cyrilblanc1 BTC price has seen greater volatility in past week and there wasn’t even a fork.
@1cyrilblanc1 I’ll refer you to the 2013 Bitcoin fork where the price dropped 24% and rebounded quickly. https://t.co/76gtSf7hFO
@1cyrilblanc1 No, I’m making a point that it appears in the history of cryptocurrency, a hard fork is never fatal. Even for Bitcoin.
@opspryde @bergalex IMO “risk” of a hard fork is due to devs never setting a timeframe for node operators to need check for updates.
@opspryde @bergalex I don’t favor one over the other, in fact I favor both. I wish segwit would be a hard fork so that the code was simpler.
@bergalex Indeed, as have number of other cryptocurrencies. Can you find one that hasn’t survived an unintentional fork?
@bergalex I specifically left Bitcoin out of that tweet, but remember Bitcoin forked when it had a several hundred million dollar market cap
When it comes to intentional hard forks, I think @VeriCoin takes the cake for most interesting emergency fork: https://t.co/5HfZKmcK8N
@bergalex In cases of unintentional forks it tanks and rebounds. See
https://t.co/76gtSf7hFO
https://t.co/MzWhFdMEfo
https://t.co/2zuHXAcM7H
@LaloLamba @kristovatlas There are some devs who claim that the Bitcoin fork wasn’t “hard” - I prefer not to debate such trivialities.
I’m having trouble finding examples of any cryptocurrencies that had a fatal hard fork, intentional or otherwise… anyone know of any?
Cryptocurrencies that hard forked & survived:
Auroracoin
Darkcoin
Dogecoin
Monero
Namecoin
Nxt
Peercoin
Solarcoin
Stellar
Vericoin
Vertcoin
@Xentagz It looks like they’re planning on using the BIP101 signaling logic with 75% of trailing 1,000 blocks.
@jm111t Current support is conceptual; it shouldn’t take long for the code to get merged and builds produced.
Bitcoin Classic is on a roll - F2Pool announces their support, bringing hash power to 72%. https://t.co/UBnw8oE40M https://t.co/VdxQWQOvNx
@IOHK_Charles @ryanxcharles Ha, poor @mikehearn - he even has a pinned post about not being @OctSkyward
@EMC2Whale If you’re having fee estimation problems, I recommend switching to a wallet with better fee logic. https://t.co/FCXsHoehPx
@EMC2Whale @pmccall777 You may be interested in my speculative post about the long term future of mining: https://t.co/aZAtyAiBLd
@EMC2Whale @pmccall777 Bitcoin is still operational; it remains to be seen how it will scale and be used in the future.
@kristovatlas @JustusRanvier As of Core 0.12, any “delayed confirmation” that exceeds 72 hours will be rejected.
santisiri 1) There’s some very serious lobbying going on with Bitcoin these days. More than we have ever seen before, highlighting its importance.
@yrashk Mike handed over the reins to Andreas @schildbach several months ago. https://t.co/O1mTFLLNNz
@Aquentys The user who had originally made the post noticed that it had been stickied and decided to edit it to make a statement.
@alansilbert Reward for such critics is short term joy of laughing at those who relentlessly build. Builders will reap the long term reward.

This post was stickied to the top of /r/bitcoin for several glorious hours yesterday. Censorship ain’t easy. pic.twitter.com/5GNgpsYzvx
@pmccall777 unlikely, barring catastrophic technical failure.
Bitcoin can’t be a failed experiment until we achieve consensus regarding its failure.
@Datavetaren According to Michael, a single dev or large company is sufficient to make a fork “contentious” https://t.co/a6Y1ndUnEE
Google Scholar articles mentioning Bitcoin in
2009: 47
2010: 103
2011: 139
2012: 336
2013: 1,080
2014: 2,700
2015: 2,290
H/T @shazow
@masonic_tweets If you try to run Statoshi on a Raspberry Pi you’re gonna have a bad time :-( https://t.co/f3hkrjj1Ga
@swizzard CAUTION: SUPPLY OF BITCOIN ACADEMIC PAPERS IS HIGHLY INFLATIONARY
RT @BitGo: RT @Coinosphere: “You may find yourself using a BitGo wallet without even knowing it…” #multisig https://t.co/SFQwVGX1R3
@Technom4ge @Kosmatos I’d prefer any implementation that will save us from having to continually come back to this debate.
@MG_Awesomi @balajis Only decent “solution” I’ve heard is that we continue to add utility to the Bitcoin ecosystem and grow the market size.
@MG_Awesomi @balajis Volatility is natural in free markets - altering a market try try to achieve stability tends to delay the inevitable.
@MG_Awesomi @balajis I think Bitcoin will continue to operate - the big question is what the primary use case for it will be.
@Technom4ge It’s not a foregone conclusion, but it’s difficult to convince ecosystem to switch to a new group of devs w/o Core’s history.
@BTCFoundation You nearly gave me a grant to fund Statoshi; how about a follow instead?
@briceb8e Original block size was 32MB and it was decreased to 1MB in ~2010 or so
If XT can’t form a new Schelling Point for Bitcoin protocol development, I doubt Classic / Unlimited / etc can - just adds fragmentation.
Bitcoin academic papers published in:
2008: Bitcoin Whitepaper
2010: 1
2011: 8
2012: 21
2013: 64
2014: 217
2015: 288
https://t.co/wvKUAgDx0G
@Datavetaren I don’t think you’ll get anyone to commit to a number or percentage - it’s a “feeling.”
@Datavetaren The answer from people crying “contentious!” tends to be “I know it when I see it.”

Suitpossum For some reason I ritualistically punish myself by gathering academic research on Bitcoin bit.ly/BitcoinReview pic.twitter.com/ngDLBNkNu9
@ryanxcharles Peek-a-boo consensus
@lightcoin Sure; the reason I created the survey is for a post I’m writing regarding node value vs cost vs network decentralization.
Bitcoin users - please help me understand your decision to run or not run a node by taking this 8 question survey: https://t.co/kDACdPxnr0
@grumpypostie @maxkeiser The “losers” would be whoever is holding the currency being exchanged for bitcoins.
Bitcoin is like a reverse lottery - the more tickets everyone buys, the more everyone wins. Don’t lose your tickets - they never expire!
“@BitGo Engineering: Lessons Learned” (crank the volume):
Part 1: youtu.be/ef4YEx_5uE4
Part 2: youtu.be/ZIVZHeMS94Q
.@breadwalletapp CEO Aaron @voisine: “we support Core’s Scalability Road Map, but Bitcoin needs a hard fork” https://t.co/uB1fQdDgdm
It turns out that @reddit doesn’t appreciate being defrauded; whodathunk? https://t.co/vmS7CRY3Gd
The Bitcoin Relay Network (bitcoinrelaynetwork.org) is no longer being maintained. Contact @TheBlueMatt if you’re interested in taking over.
@knucklesandwich Just a few more decades and IPV6 should be ready! https://t.co/R5FJekXdAC
@JamesGDAngelo @JayCoDon @twobitidiot @pete_rizzo_ @21 is bootstrapping a new economic network; hard to generate revenue until it’s larger
@JamesGDAngelo @twobitidiot @21dotco @pete_rizzo_ I felt the same way about Bitcoin once upon a time. Most people still do.
@kristovatlas @jonmatonis The problem is that bitcoin.org claims to be neutral source of information. bitcoin.org/en/about-us
If I won #Powerball, the #Bitcoin exchange rate would rise significantly as I rebalanced my portfolio.
@IvanTheK @polemitis Analog fails as well! https://t.co/idOwrheFjf

Nice; I think @oxt_btc is the first blockchain analytics service to show temporal patterns. oxt.me pic.twitter.com/fOgQr2CQlZ
NC lawmakers shown stark evidence that decades of central economic planning have been thwarted by the free market. https://t.co/Fb1yfNfeJz
@jefft “No one can tell I’m watching porn in the office!”
@SDLerner Ah so it would be policy rather than consensus?
@SDLerner Can you elaborate on “SPV Mining can be coded to be allowed for some very short time” - a consensus rule based on timestamps?
RT @SDLerner: “SPV mining†is the solution, not the problem. My latest post —> https://t.co/1KzvvgR52B
@flyosity I never buy lottery tix; the sad thing was the woman in front of me in line who seriously said “it’s about time I won something”
@aantonop https://t.co/ZKeFZ0pskn ceased to be an impartial platform last June with https://t.co/TZPfn4oRzV https://t.co/l6qco1vF7D
RT @aantonop: https://t.co/YMHGeg9YN0 admins continue to abuse commit authority to impose opinion and hide controversy:
https://t.co/VcucBj 
“@PayPal froze our funds, then offered us a business loan.” https://t.co/qXTGgJpGVv
Bitcoin Core: “no hard forks, users choose code” https://t.co/O2DndCcXps
@bitpay: “here’s adaptive block size code” https://t.co/utdKQ3ThnG
@ErikVoorhees More broadly, central administrators can halt an exchange but they can’t halt The Market. Traders gonna trade regardless.
@Suitpossum I’m a member of Mensa and I don’t see anyone by the surname of “Stankov” in our members directory.

emilepetrone .@starsandrobots & I are building more mirrors \o/ Want to know when more are available? milkmirror.com pic.twitter.com/L8GFbdsHYs
@ProductHunt @pmarca @theghostdrone We were promised flying cars and all we got was flying cars with autopilot.
Hoverboards are out; Golfboards are in! https://t.co/tEQcCmF6Zi
The latest episode of @TheSimpsons, “The Girl Code,” is full of Silicon Valley win. https://t.co/55O71BitFU
@taariqlewis @shibuyashadows @kristovatlas Payment request from merchant should indicate RBF not accepted; wallet should autoselect.
@shibuyashadows @taariqlewis Depends upon the value of the transaction versus the inconvenience caused by waiting.
@taariqlewis Divide over RBF appears to be adversarial perspective versus real-world experience that most txns aren’t made by adversaries.