Date: Sun, 05 Nov 2023 18:43:18 +0000
To: Erik Aronesty <erik@q32.com>
From: alicexbt <alicexbt@protonmail.com>
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Cc: Bitcoin Protocol Discussion <bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org>
Subject: Re: [bitcoin-dev] ossification and misaligned incentive concerns
Precedence: list

Hi Erik,

> currently, there are providers of anonymity services, scaling services, c=
ustody, and other services layered on top of bitcoin using trust-based and =
federated models.
>=20
> as bitcoin becomes more popular, these service providers have increasingl=
y had a louder "voice" in development and maintenance of the protocol

> is anyone else worried about this?

Yes. I share your concerns about the growing influence of centralized servi=
ce providers on Bitcoin's development. Although there is nothing much we ca=
n do about it especially=20
when trusted, centralized, custodial, federated etc. projects keep getting =
funded. Only solution is to build better things and be positive.

Example: Everyone is aware of the risks involved in a project that takes cu=
stody of funds, provide privacy without KYC. There are several examples fro=
m past in which similar=20
projects with some volume ended up getting shutdown by governments. With [c=
ovenants and statechains][0], it is possible to use bitcoin (p2p ecash) wit=
h privacy and involves no custody.

There are other [benefits][1] of payment pools (w/ covenants) in terms of p=
rivacy. Hopefully we agree to do soft fork in next year or so.

[0]: https://github.com/AdamISZ/pathcoin-poc
[1]: https://gnusha.org/bitcoin-wizards/2019-05-21.log

/dev/fd0
floppy disk guy

Sent with Proton Mail secure email.

------- Original Message -------
On Friday, November 3rd, 2023 at 11:54 PM, Erik Aronesty via bitcoin-dev <b=
itcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org> wrote:


> currently, there are providers of anonymity services, scaling services, c=
ustody, and other services layered on top of bitcoin using trust-based and =
federated models.
>=20
> as bitcoin becomes more popular, these service providers have increasingl=
y had a louder "voice" in development and maintenance of the protocol
>=20
> holders generally want these features
>=20
> but service providers have an incentive to maintain a "moat" around their=
 services
>=20
> in summary, making privacy, scaling and vaulting "hard" for regular users=
, keeping it off-chain and federated... is now incentivised among a vocal, =
but highly technical, minority
>=20
> is anyone else worried about this?