Tonight, we discussed Chapter 13, “Blocking the Stream,” from Hijacking Bitcoin by Roger Ver and Steve Patterson.
Here are some of our key takeaways:
→ Funding and governance are closely connected. How developers are funded can influence incentives and decision-making.
→ Open-source projects need sustainable funding. Bitcoin development has experimented with donations, foundations, companies, and other models.
→ Institutions can bring structure, but they can also introduce new risks. The Bitcoin Foundation’s history raised important questions about transparency, management, and governance.
→ Developer incentives matter. When organisations have commercial interests connected to Bitcoin infrastructure, questions about potential conflicts of interest naturally follow.
→ Bitcoin’s development is also a question of power. Who gets to influence the protocol, what changes are prioritised, and how consensus is reached can have consequences for the entire ecosystem.
→ Decentralisation is more than running nodes. The people and institutions funding, maintaining, and developing Bitcoin can also shape its trajectory.
A thought-provoking chapter with plenty to debate.
Thank you to everyone who joined us tonight, shared their perspectives, and contributed to the discussion. 🧡
Until next Friday. ⚡📖
quoting nevent1q…5x85📚 Readers’ Friday Book Club!
Tonight, we conclude our reading of Chapter 13: “Blocking the Stream” from Hijacking Bitcoin by Roger Ver and Steve Patterson.
This chapter explores one of Bitcoin’s most contentious questions: who funds Bitcoin development, and how can funding influence the direction of an open-source project?
We will discuss the Bitcoin Foundation, Blockstream, developer incentives, governance, and the broader question of how Bitcoin can remain resistant to capture.
đź•• 6:00 PM UTC
đź’¬ Discord: https://discord.gg/mWt628TA4k
Join us as we wrap up Chapter 13 and move forward with the next part of the book.
Come with your questions and thoughts. ⚡📖
