Date: Fri, 03 Jun 2022 18:39:34 +0000
To: Bitcoin Protocol Discussion <bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org>
From: alicexbt <alicexbt@protonmail.com>
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Subject: [bitcoin-dev] Bitcoin covenants are inevitable
Precedence: list

Note: This email is an opinion and not an attack on bitcoin

Covenants on bitcoin will eventually be implemented with a soft fork. CTV i=
s the easiest and best possible way OP_TX looks good as well. Apart from th=
e technical merits, covenants will improve a few other things:

- Developers can build interesting projects with real demand in market.
- Students learn Sapio and not just solidity.
- Better tooling could be available for application developers.
- Maybe we see bitcoin developer hackathons in different countries.
- Demand for block space might increase, it wont be just exchanges and coin=
join.
- Funding of bitcoin developers and projects might improve. Wont need to co=
nvince a few people for grants.

**Why covenants are not contentious?**

Some people may write paragraphs about CTV being contentious, spread misinf=
ormation and do all types of drama, politics etc. on social media but there=
 are zero technical NACKs for CTV. We have discussed other covenant proposa=
ls in detail on mailing list and IRC meetings with an open minded approach.

All the developers that participated in the discussion are either okay with=
 CTV or OP_TX or covenants in general.

**How and when should covenants be implemented in Bitcoin?**

I don't think we should wait for years anticipating a proposal that everyon=
e will agree on or argue for years to pretend changes are hard in Bitcoin. =
We should improve the review process for soft fork BIPs and share honest op=
inions with agreement, disagreement on technical merits.

I prefer BIP 8 or improved BIP 8 for soft fork but I won't mind anything el=
se being used if that improves Bitcoin. Covenants implemented in Bitcoin be=
fore the next cycle would provide opportunity for developers to build inter=
esting things during the bear market. Ossification supporters also believe =
there is some window that will close soon, maybe doing changes considering =
each case individually will be a better approach. CTV is not a rushed soft =
fork, less people followed the research and it was not mentioned on social =
media repeatedly by the respected developers like other soft forks.

/dev/fd0


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