I am in favour of activating Segregated Witness (SegWit), but I am no more an authority than anyone else. Make up your own mind.

Here is why I think SegWit should be activated: it solves a number of different problems and is the best-tested solution that exists. I used to think that big blocks would be better; I’ve run Bitcoin Classic, XT, and Unlimited to evaluate the software and understand how they work. The problem with Unlimited is that it doesn’t change the rules — it sets the rulers, who will get to change the rules. That is a very dangerous thing to do in Bitcoin, and Unlimited is also an untested system of consensus. Bitcoin will be attacked eventually; maybe it’s better that it’s sooner rather than later. Hard-forking Bitcoin without very broad consensus will hurt investment in this space as a whole. But for those who use it as a currency, it still works whether the price is $20 or $200 or $2,000.

This is part of a talk which took place on March 20th 2017 at the Singapore Management University for the Singapore Bitcoin & Ethereum meetups: https://www.meetup.com/BitcoinSingapore/events/237307480/

RELATED:
Do miners control consensus? – The 5 Consensus Communities – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzwxewJipHI
Scaling and the block size debate – https://youtu.be/4IT4s-6T__k
Anonymity and confidential transactions – https://youtu.be/MgTxkoLF2KA

Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a technologist and serial entrepreneur who has become one of the most well-known and well-respected figures in bitcoin.

Follow on Twitter: @aantonop https://twitter.com/aantonop
Website: https://antonopoulos.com/

He is the author of two books: “Mastering Bitcoin,” published by O’Reilly Media and considered the best technical guide to bitcoin; “The Internet of Money,” a book about why bitcoin matters.

THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v1: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Internet-Money-collection-Andreas-Antonopoulos/dp/1537000454/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

MASTERING BITCOIN: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cryptocurrencies/dp/1449374042

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12 COMMENTS

  3. "I used to think that big blocks would be better, about 2 years ago…" Yup, I didn't. And in the future you will be saying the same thing about segwit. You are just speaking about a subject (the macro-economic implications of bitcoin) without actually knowing anything about it.

  4. Notice he said that BU changes the rulers to the miners. However, he didn't say who the rulers are now: the arrogant and hubristic Core development team which ruthlessly discards all external non-core ideas because of their "Not Invented Here" syndrome.

  6. I follow and like your videos, but SegWit in contentious too. It's a difficult dilemma and I go back and forth. I keep pointing my 27.5 TH/s to BIP9. Why can't we do both? Everybody wants Bitcoin to stay together, except one. I disagree with the BIP148 (Mandatory SegWit Adoption) block version by BitFury. 97% consensus on all edits.

  8. Decentralizing development teams of the decentralize networks is good. Having multiple implementations are not easy but at the end of the day, it will make Bitcoin a much stronger, resilient currency which can't be easily manipulated by outside forces. We are doing very cutting edge things here, people. Let's proud to be in the passionated community.

  11. I think BU is just looking to centralize the network, and if they fork will end up like Ethereum Classic, largely irrelevant. Ethereum has taken off, and I think Bitcoin will do the same once it drops the dead weight. Bitcoin can go to 2 MB, add Segwit and Lightning,. and be a much better platform a year from now without the centralizing miners holding it back.

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