Bitcoin Cynics and Idealists
There is something about the stereotypes of naive dreamers and idealists, hard-headed realists and cynics. Stereotypes do not arise out of thin air; there is a kernel of truth in them. Otherwise, it would never have gone viral as an idea in the first place. But they, as well as the worldview they espouse, are exaggerated beyond their core.
Bitcoin is currently stuck in a game of tug-of-war between naive idealists and jaded cynics.
On the one hand, idealists argue that we have already won. We don’t need to do anything. Bitcoin magically guarantees success. It will already take over the world, everyone will have it, and it will be the greatest store of value of all time. This is all you need to win and succeed. No improvement needed.
Cynics, on the other hand, argue that we have been defeated or will be defeated. There is no way Bitcoin can succeed in the world without a complete overhaul that dramatically changes Bitcoin. It will be captured and rendered useless. “Who knows where to start?” This is an answer to the question of what improvements are needed.
These two extremes that dominate the public conversation sweep away attention to two important things: the reality of what we can already do with what we have, and how substantially that reality can be expanded with very small, simple improvements. Throw it away.
As it stands now, it is up to its custodians to ensure that Bitcoin maintains some degree of censorship resistance and privacy for most parts of the world. The best we can do in this regard is to use many small local chaumian ecash mints. However, to run ecash mint you will need to run a Lightning node.
Lightning is complicated, and if you screw up and lose your latest channel status, you could lose all your money. In this design, if you try to use the old channel state after an update, your adversary can steal all your funds. CTV + CSFS offers LN-Symmetry, a Lightning channel type that offers a new way to operate channels. Instead of using the previous state, which allows the other party to take all your money, LN-Symmetry channels allow you to “pass through” all intermediate states and use the previous state as the most recent state on-chain, ensuring that everyone has access to your money. You can do this to get it. exact amount.
That one small change (which is by no means all that CTV + CSFS makes possible) would fundamentally change the landscape of who is able and willing to run a local ecash mint. The risk of losing everyone’s money due to incompetence will be virtually eliminated.
This small new feature greatly improves Bitcoin’s chances of remaining private and resistant to censorship. Does self-custody extend to the entire world? no. Store of Value Maximalists Claim Will Bitcoin’s value improve significantly even though the improvements are not necessary or possible? entirely.
Bitcoin investors need to stop focusing on the extremes when it comes to the possibilities in this space. Between them there is a wide open field, largely unexplored. If we really want to know our chances of success, the limits of what we can do. actually If we can and cannot do it with Bitcoin, we need to explore that area.
This article take. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
