Bitcoin Global News (BGN)

February 22, 2019 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- Yes, part of the network did become Bitcoin Cash. Yes, forks occur all the time with names like Bitcoin Gold, Diamond, and Private. Despite this, the Bitcoin network is still decentralized. Why this is the case boils down to statements that were made by Wladimir van der Laan for a CoinDesk article that was released today.

If you don’t know who Wladimir van der Laan is yet, then you should, if only because he holds one of the most important positions that it is possible to hold in terms of maintaining the world’s most powerful cryptocurrency. Even though the Bitcoin website reportedly describes what he does as “janitorial,” his responsibilities are more akin to those of a lead developer that consistently works to maintain a network after it launches.

What he said in the aforementioned article from CoinDesk was that Bitcoin’s monetary supply should never and actually, could never really be altered due to its’ status as the closest thing to decentralized on the crypto market.

Knowing this, what you might logically wonder is: how has Bitcoin achieved and maintained this status despite the volatile and rapidly shifting nature of the cryptocurrency industry? Beyond the fact that it is harder to change because it is the industry’s first mover, there is another fact that lies a bit below the surface.

Bitcoin can never even get close to being changed without a lot of objections and subsequent discussions from its’ powerful community. This comes from Van der Laan in today’s article, along with the idea that any proposal to change Bitcoin’s core rules including how its’ money supply is determined, should never be followed.

In a sense, resisting the proposed changes of centralized development communities does lead to continuous decentralization. In the end, however,  does it also promote continuous adoption?

By: BGN Editorial Staff