There is something similar about the stereotypes of the naive dreamer and idealist, or the cold-hearted realist and cynic. Stereotypes are not simply unfounded; there is a kernel of truth to them. Otherwise, stereotypes would never have gone viral as an idea in the first place. But they, like the worldview they espouse, are exaggerated beyond their essence.
Bitcoin is currently caught in a tug-of-war between naive idealists and jaded cynics.
Idealists, on the other hand, claim that we have already won. we don’t need to do anything. Bitcoin is magically guaranteed to succeed. It is already going to conquer the world, everyone will own it, it is the greatest store of value of all time. That’s all you need to win and be successful. No improvement needed.
Cynics, on the other hand, argue that we have lost or will lose. Bitcoin cannot succeed in the world without a complete overhaul that changes it dramatically. It will be captured and rendered useless. “Nobody knows where to start,” is the response to asking what improvements need to be made.
These extremes that dominate public dialogue distract from two important things. It’s about the reality of what we can already do with what we have, and how that reality can be greatly expanded with very small and simple improvements.
As it stands, it is up to its administrators to ensure that Bitcoin can achieve some degree of censorship resistance and privacy in large parts of the world. The best we can do in this regard is to set up a number of small, local Chaumian Ecash Mints, but running Ecash Mint requires running Lightning nodes.
Lightning is complex, and if it fails and you lose the latest channel state, you can lose all your money. This design allows a counterparty to steal all your funds if you try to use the old channel state after an update. CTV + CSFS offers LN-Symmetry, a type of Lightning channel that provides a new way for channels to work. With LN-Symmetry channels, you can “cut through” all intermediate states and spend the old state on the latest state on-chain, instead of using the old state and losing all your money to the other party. , making sure everyone gets their money. correct amount.
That one small change (and it’s not all that CTV + CSFS makes possible) would fundamentally change the landscape of who has the ability and desire to run local e-cash mints. The risk of losing everyone’s money due to incompetence will be almost eliminated.
This one small new feature greatly improves Bitcoin’s chances of being private and censorship-proof. Will self-custody rights be extended worldwide?No. Store of Value Will the value of Bitcoin increase significantly, even though the improvements claimed by maximalists are not necessary or possible? Absolutely.
Bitcoiners need to stop focusing on the extremes and only the extremes when it comes to possibilities in this space. Between the two extremes there is a vast, largely unexplored region. If you really want to know the odds of success and the limits of what you can and cannot actually do with Bitcoin, you need to research the field.
This article is a take. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
