Show Notes
Paul Sztorc is one of the most controversial figures in Bitcoin—and he’s about to pull off one of his most controversial moves of all: a full-blown Bitcoin hardfork.
Actuating his vision of “e-cash,” as the new protocol is called, Paul is pushing forward a new Drivechains-enabled Bitcoin experience—citing governance challenges and a “broken soft fork process” as reasons for the move.
“If BIP300/301 was activated in Bitcoin, we would stop,” says Paul Sztorc—adding, “it’s an irony that the soft fork was invented because the hard fork was too difficult.”
In this interview, I asked Paul all the difficult questions you can imagine—and ultimately found myself sympathizing with much of his defense.
Regardless of one’s personal politics, this interview sheds light on the challenges we face in Bitcoin governance as a whole—and may be worth reviewing to better understand the political statement (ne—political artwork?) that Paul’s work represents.
In this episode, Paul shares:
Why he’s making the bold move to hard fork — and the various levels of risk he’s assuming in the process.
His frustration with the Bitcoin soft fork process and why, regardless of the risks, it “may be time to reconsider the hard fork.”
Why the Drivechains vision (BIP300/301) is one worth fighting for, and why the payments use-case must be actuated to fulfill Satoshi’s vision
The problem with Bitcoin’s “decel” culture, and why the lack of competition may be the root of the problem.
This episode of Bitcoin Rails is brought to you by my NEW sponsors:
LayerTwo Labs — developing research, software and technologies for scaling Bitcoin via the integration of Drivechains (BIP 300/301)
Hashi on — a primitive for executing Bitcoin Defi transactions, with having to trust a federated bridge or other centralized entity
BitBox — an open-source Bitcoin-only hardware wallet, with smooth UX and no compromises on security. Check out Bitbox [dot] swiss and use code BITCOINRAILS to get a discount.
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