[Vitalik Buterin releases important Bitcoin (BTC) announcement]
In a recent blog post, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin provided an in-depth analysis of one of the most contentious debates in Bitcoin history – the block size war. Buterin’s reflections are based on two important books he has read: “The Block Size War” by Jonathan Bier and “Hijacking Bitcoin” by Roger Ver and Steve Patterson.
In the 2010s, the Bitcoin block size wars centered around how Bitcoin should scale and be useful. The core question is whether Bitcoin should increase the block size limit from 1 MB to accommodate more transactions and reduce fees, or should it keep blocks smaller to ensure more users can run nodes and thus remain decentralized .
Jonathan Bier's "Block Size War" supports the view of small blocks, arguing that larger blocks will significantly increase the cost and technical difficulty of running nodes, leading to centralization. Supporters of small blocks argue that changes to the Bitcoin protocol should be very rare and require broad consensus among users. In contrast, "Hijacking Bitcoin" by Roger Ver and Steve Patterson supports the big block view, arguing that Bitcoin should be digital cash, not just digital gold, and that low transaction fees are essential for its use as a global payment system. It's important. They advocate increasing the block size to keep fees low, arguing that this is the Bitcoin vision in Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper.
Buterin introduced the concept of a "one-sided capabilities trap," in which one side of the debate monopolizes technical capabilities and uses them to push a narrow agenda, while the opposition, while correct on the basic issues, fails to develop the capabilities needed to execute its vision. technical skills. Buterin believes that small-block proponents have maintained technical control in the block size war, while large-block proponents have struggled to effectively implement their ideas. He emphasized that the ultimate solution to such political and technological impasses lies in new technologies that meet the needs of both parties.
He pointed out that technologies such as ZK-SNARKs and BLS aggregation adopted by Ethereum strike a balance in enhancing scalability and decentralization, and hoped that Bitcoin would adopt a more cutting-edge technical approach.A new generation of Layer2 solutions, such as Inscriptions and BitVM, may pave the way for a more scalable and decentralized Bitcoin ecosystem.
