The bitcoin ‘ossification’ debate continues with a discussion on the key considerations. What makes Bitcoin special? What improvements are necessary to retain sufficient decentralisation, if any?

Vijay Boyapati and Brandon Black (aka reardencode) rejoin me for a special episode to discuss:

What makes Bitcoin special?
Defining ‘ossification’
How many users is ‘enough’?
Unknown unknowns
Addressing centralising MEV concerns
Soft forks and hard forks
Economic nodes and who holds the power
Where to from here

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:54) - What makes Bitcoin Special? ft. Vijay

(09:37) - Verifiability & decentralisation of Bitcoin ft. Brandon

(14:31) - When do we stop ‘changing’ bitcoin?

(15:17) - Revisiting the blocksize wars & importance of self sovereignty

(20:45) - Libertarian principles of Bitcoin

(23:48) - ‘Sufficiently decentralised’ Bitcoin

(26:42) - Defining ‘Ossification’ of Bitcoin

(30:56) - Sponsors

(34:11) - Economic interests in upgrading Bitcoin nodes

(43:40) - Bitcoin is a Trojan horse

(47:15) - Can we rule out ‘Unknown unknowns'?

(50:49) - Concerns over centralising MEV

(1:00:17) - Whose chain is it anyway?

(1:05:14) - Resisting soft forks and hard forks

(1:16:49) - Closing Thoughts

Links:

X: @real_vijay
Bullish Case for Bitcoin: Swan.com/bullish
X: @reardencode

Prior episodes:

Rusty - Great Script Restoration
Brandon Black - Are Covenants necessary for Bitcoin
TXHASH Steven Roose
Matt Corallo and Steve Lee Great Consensus Cleanup

Sponsors:

Swan.com (code LIVERA)
CoinKite.com (code LIVERA)
Mempool.space

Stephan Livera links:

Bitcoin Ossification Debate with Vijay Boyapati and Reardencode SLP583

Stephan Livera Podcast