Over the past year, the Bitcoin scaling debate has escalated to new levels. It seems no one can come to an agreement on the best path forward and people have resorted to attacks, slander, and rancorous disputes. Throughout the most recent hostility, a refreshing post on the subreddit r/bitcoin concerning a discussion on the r/btc forum suggests it is still possible we could all get along someday soon.
Also read: India’s Government May Be Preparing to Legalize and Regulate Bitcoin This Summer
The Block Size Debate in the Beginning
Most people don’t realize the block size debate has been taking place since the year it was created. For years now, one small commit to the code in 2010 has caused significant hostility throughout the entire Bitcoin community.
“(nBlockSize + nTxSize >= MAX_BLOCK_SIZE – 10000)” was written into the bitcoin protocol by Satoshi Nakamoto in July of 2010. Some believe it was conceived to stop massive spam attacks throughout the network, while others think there is no need for the hard coded 1mb limitation.
A few months after the 1mb commit, on October 3, 2010, Jeff Garzik revealed an idea for a patch created by Satoshi to increase the block size limit. Garzik stated at the time, “we should be able to at least match Paypal’s average transaction rate.” The particular discussion that day was the first of many conversations concerning removing the 1mb limitation. Just three months after the block size limit was implemented the heated debate began.
The Dispute Rages On
Fast forward to today where scaling discussions seem more bitter, venomous, and literally, never ending. The dispute has been raging on for so long people have grown weary, jaded, and downright tired of the fighting. The infighting has gotten so bad that people have resorted to tactics of attacking members of the bitcoin industry and the censorship of people’s opinions.
Then there have been meetings between developers, businesses, and miners many times over the years resulting in broken promises. Egos have taken over, and the scaling conversation has spread into multiple discussions about subjects that have nothing to do with the matter. Furthermore, many bitcoin newcomers are seeing a hostile community and are probably dismayed by the nasty energy.
One Reddit Post Gives a Glimmer of Hope
Nevertheless, a Reddit thread on April 28 with hundreds of upvotes showed a discussion between two bitcoiners choosing to converse amicably even though they disagreed. Many people thought the post was important because it conveyed the message that ALL Bitcoin proponents can still move forward demonstrating better behavior. One comment from the thread explains the current infighting situation in a unique way;
It’s funny how when you have a passionate belief in a fringe technology that almost no one in the general public shares with you and the people you hate most are the .00001% of the population that agrees with almost everything you believe in.
Better Ways to Approach the Scaling Discussion Because We All Want Bitcoin to Succeed
The best way Bitcoin proponents can move forward is with healthy discussions using logic and reason as opposed to irrational emotions. We should pay attention to other people’s opinions and respect that many people will have different ideas about scaling Bitcoin. Maybe some of us discussing the issue in an emotional manner need to take a step back, pause and get more grounded. There are many things all of us within the Bitcoin ‘community’ can do to better approach the discussion because we all want the same thing for Bitcoin.
We all want Bitcoin to be the most successful cryptocurrency on the face of the earth, but some have lost sight of the goal with all the drama. We bitcoiners have created a $21.7 billion dollar market and $1300 bitcoins because we all fought long and hard for the digital currency to succeed.
The bottom line is we all want the same thing, and some of us disagree on the best path for bitcoin. However, most Bitcoin proponents would agree, now more than ever, we should be civilized and move forward by using better communication skills and demonstrating debate without emotions.
What do you think about the scaling debate lately? Do you think at some point we can all come to an agreement and move forward? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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