Bitcoin Community Endorses Decentralized Consensus Decision

With regards to the current debate about a potential BlockSize increase, it is becoming increasingly clear that our community stands at a crossroads. Generations to come will surely look back at this time in history as a guidepost for how to handle similar situations. We would be wise to consider not only our own interests as we approach a solution to our current quandary, but also the interests of those to come.

In producing this manifesto we propose not an endorsement for any single solution to the BlockSize problem, but an endorsement of a process by which a decision on the best solution may be arrived at. We are using this Open Letter to declare our support for a Decentralized Consensus Decision Making Process, which includes the input of all who are invested in the success of Bitcoin.

We propose a system in which decisions are made by involving all participants. Devs submit BIPs; miners, investors, and large bitcoin entities express support for their favored BIP. The expressed support allows devs to see where each group stands, and the discussions allow them to tailor the proposal to satisfy all participants. This ensures bitcoin evolves in a way which reflects the unified will of all its participants, avoiding the disastrous consequences of implementing solutions that have significant support but not broad consensus among the community.

While we are uncertain of what percentage of support should signify consensus, whether it be 75% within a 1000 block sequence or 95% within a 5000 block sequence or some combination of steps or thresholds; and further, while we are also uncertain of the mechanism by which all voices may be heard, whether it be coin-voting or some other mechanism, what we are certain of is this one thing: we do not trust you, we trust consensus agreement.

In our proposal, the “winner” would therefore be the developer(s) who figure out the proposal that achieves consensus first, encouraging developers to revise and amend their proposals according to the will of consensus. We feel that such a process is the only way to arrive at the best possible solution to any problem and avoid the disastrous consequences of implementing a solution that does not have consensus among the community.