The Bitcoin block size drama continues, as it has taken yet another interesting turn. Even though F2pool is considering removing their consensus support, the mining pool has also opened up their platform to feedback from individual miners regarding the 2MB block size increase. It is only due diligence to ask the opinion of the people who protect and secure the Bitcoin network every day.
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F2Pool Asks The Miners What They Think
Despite the Bitcoin block size debate going on for quite some time now, hardly anyone has ever considered asking the miners what they think. Nearly all of the focus has been on the developers – from both Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Classic – as well as the mining pool owners complaining how larger blocks will make their business a lot harder to manage.
All of that is fine and dandy, and those discussions need to take place at some point. But at the same time, a lot of people have lost track of which parties made to the Bitcoin network into what it is today, and those individuals are the miners. Without people mining Bitcoin, the network would become vulnerable, and no transactions would be processed. In fact, the entire ecosystem would grind to a halt.
F2Pool is the very first – and so far only – mining pool to ask the opinion of their miners as to how they feel about the 2MB block size increase. While some people may argue the miners will not be directly affected by a block size increase, the future of Bitcoin and its development is of the utmost importance to them as well.
.@JihanWu Giving individual hashers a voice is admirable, but doing so via false nVersion settings is dangerous; use the coinbase instead.
— Peter Todd (@petertoddbtc) February 25, 2016
Bitcoin community members and developers have commended F2Pool for taking this action while trying to push political agendas at the same time. It seems rather difficult to have a debate on the Bitcoin ecosystem without referring to either Bitcoin Core or Bitcoin Classic software solutions these days.
@TheBlueMatt @JihanWu F2Pool is running core. They are letting miners vote with the block version but they are not running classic.
— Sam Jones (@_samjones) February 25, 2016
Furthermore, it didn’t take long until people started spewing allegations as to how F2Pool is running Bitcoin Core and does not even offer Bitcoin Classic support right now. This is – allegedly – a clear hint as to how they see the future of Bitcoin and its development, which would directly influence the miners’ decision.
Roundtable Agreement Is Useless
While nearly all of the Bitcoin mining pools came to some consensus on the block size debate during a recent Roundtable meeting, it looks like things are starting to unravel fast. Not only is F2Pool threatening to remove their consensus support unless Blockstream and Adan Back come clean, but community members are questioning the legitimacy and usefulness of this agreement.
In the end, a roundtable agreement behind closed doors by a select few individuals holds no validity in the Bitcoin world. Majority consensus cannot be reached by enforcing a particular solution upon the people who make up this community. This story is far from over, and in the end, the community will have the final word, not the “chosen few” who think they can make every decision in this space.
What are your thoughts on F2Pool asking miners’ opinions? Will other pools follow by example? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Twitter
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