The event had an upbeat vibe—not surprising since everyone there worshipped Bitcoin—but it was also clear there was trouble in paradise. It turns out there is a growing schism over Bitcoin’s codebase, and whether it should be modified to permit the blockchain to include more non-financial data.
For the Core crowd, this is a simple and pragmatic way to promote new uses for Bitcoin and, in the process, drum up extra fees for miners at a time when the blockchain’s lottery payment is 3.125 Bitcoins, and set to halve again in 2028. A fast-growing rival faction, though, wants nothing to do with the scheme and is promoting a Bitcoin client software of its own called Knots.
In the current fight, Knots is still the smaller faction, but has already become the client of choice for over 20% of Bitcoin node operators. Its growing popularity lies not only in Knots’ position on expanding the blockchain, but from a perception that the Core crowd has grown arrogant and out-of-touch with Bitcoin’s core values. The Core folks, meanwhile, dismiss the Knots faction as lying trouble-makers.
I lack the authority to weigh in on much of this, other than to observe that this latest battle for the soul of Bitcoin reinforces what I’ve said for years: Bitcoin is a marvelous technology, but also a religion. And with any religion, there will be divisions between old-line believers and more modern adherents. Happily for the crowd in Lugano, there was a moment of unity that came with the unveiling of a restored Satoshi Nakamoto statue on the city’s beautiful lakefront. Bitcoin’s factions may be at war but there’s no doubt they still worship a common god.
