Bitcoin’s Scaling Debate is Devolving Into an All-Out Twitter War

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16 March 2017

The bitcoin world has been in something of a furore over an attack that, on Tuesday, took down most of the nodes running Bitcoin Unlimited – a controversial alternative version of the cryptocurrency’s code.

Though the exact details of the attack aren’t clear, here’s what we know: After a couple of bitcoin users posted the link to details of a bug exploit that could allow anyone to remotely crash Bitcoin Unlimited nodes, an unknown attacker used the method to take down over two-thirds of the devices.

A ‘hot fix‘ was released later that day, and by Wednesday, most nodes had popped back up.

The news comes a just couple of days after Bitmain’s AntPool announced that it would switch its mining pool to the alternative bitcoin software, bringing miner support one step closer to the 75% hashing power threshold needed to activate Bitcoin Unlimited’s rules.

Unsurprisingly, the event made a strong impression on the community, and both supporters and critics alike have been vocal in expressing their reactions to the event.

CoinDesk rounded up some of the more popular responses on Twitter (admittedly a platform that might over- rather than under-state divisions within the space) to see how developers and other bitcoin commentators reacted to the node outage.

For a general overview of the ongoing debate, read our easy explainer.

Critical feedback

Following the bug exploit, Bitcoin Unlimited’s developer team, which introduced at least one other bug earlier this year, was an obvious target for criticism, but other factors and suggestions were raised too.

1. Developers at fault

Coinbase director of engineering Charlie Lee’s concern, raised in a tweetstorm, is what would happen if Bitcoin Unlimited were the primary software.

2. Lack of collaboration

Others also argued that the code was not well-tested.

BitGo engineer Jameson Lopp argued that only one developer reviewed the code change that led to the crash.

Another bitcoin developer argued that even a novice coder could have been the culprit.

3. Poor review process

“Mastering Bitcoin” author Andreas Antonopoulos argued that, rather than blame the developers, the review process needs to be tightened.


4. I don’t always…

Many accounts that are not associated with well-known, or known, people, also participate in the debate.

One such unknown Twitter user added to the “code was untested” sentiment with a meme.

5. Mining pool confusion

Chain product architect Oleg Andreev pointed to a comment from Blockstream CTO Greg Maxwell suggesting that mining pools that say they are running Bitcoin Unlimited might not be.

6. Cover-up?

Lopp, among others, pointed to one developer trying to cover up the crash.

Supporters respond

Bitcoin Unlimited’s supporters generally took the stance that the software is a newer version and that mistakes are inevitable.

7. Core issues

Bitcoin investor Roger Ver linked to a piece written by one of Bitcoin Unlimited’s developers about some of the bugs they’ve allegedly discovered in the Bitcoin Core codebase.

8. Satoshi’s bugs

Along those lines, Blockchain security and privacy engineer Kristov Atlas pointed out that bitcoin saw a number of bugs in its early days.

Further, the exploit could encourage new programmers to join the Bitcoin Unlimited ranks and help out, he suggested.

9. What about the attacker?

To others, it seems like the attacker was getting off too easily. Whoever he or she is, deserves more blame, suggested Bitcoin Unlimited developer Tom Harding.

10. Strength in numbers

Many argued that the potential fragility of individual bitcoin implementations is a sign that there is strength in having more than one version of bitcoin.

11. The ethereum approach

On a similar note, Ethereum Foundation blockchain consultant Hudson Jameson, a representative from ethereum, a blockchain known for its multiple implementations, even jumped in.

12. Take a balanced view

Last, but not least, Abra’s John Light urged for less divisive discussion on social media.

Mud image via Shutterstock