Vitalik Buterin reflects on Bitcoin’s block size debate and its impact to Ethereum

Vitalik
Buterin,
co-founder
of
Ethereum,
has
shared
his

reflections
on
the
Bitcoin
block
size
war,
a
heated
debate
that
took
place
within
the
Bitcoin
community
between
2015
to
2017.

The
conflict
centered
on
whether
to
increase
the
block
size
limit
to
accommodate
more
transactions,
thereby
reducing
fees
and
enhancing
Bitcoin’s
utility
as
a
payment
system.
Buterin
said
that
his
reflections
come
in
as
he
looks
at
the
debate
“with
fresh
eyes.”

Buterin,
who
initially
aligned
with
the
“big
blockers”
advocating
for
larger
blocks,
analyzed
the
perspectives
presented
in
two
books:
Jonathan
Bier’s
“The
Blocksize
War”
and
Roger
Ver
and
Steve
Patterson’s
“Hijacking
Bitcoin.”
The
small
blockers
(Bier)
prioritized
maintaining
Bitcoin’s
decentralization
and
security,
arguing
that
larger
blocks
would
centralize
control
among
a
few
large
entities.
In
contrast,
the
big
blockers
(Ver
and
Patterson)
believed
that

Bitcoin’s
original
vision
was
to
serve
as
a
“digital
cash”
system
and
that
failure
to
increase
the
block
size
would
undermine
this
use
case.

Big
block
or
small
block?

Reflecting
on
the
debate,
Buterin
acknowledged
that
while
he
believed
the
big
blockers
were
right
about
the
need
for
larger
blocks
to
keep
fees
low,
they
often
lacked
the
technical
competence
to
implement
their
solutions
effectively.
He
criticized
their
inability
to
agree
on
realistic
limits
for
block
size
increases
and
their
technical
missteps,
which
ultimately
discredited
the
big
block
movement.

“In
general,
reading
through
the
two
books,
I
found
myself
agreeing
with
Ver
more
often
on
big-picture
questions,
but
with
Bier
more
often
on
individual
details,”
Buterin
said.

Buterin
also
found
the
small
blockers’
approach
to
governance
and
protocol
changes
overly
conservative,
disagreeing
with
their
rigid
stance
against
hard
forks
and
their
reliance
on
soft
forks.
He
criticized
their
alleged
social
media
censorship
and
the
exclusion
of
dissenting
views,
which
stifled
open
debate
within
the
community.

The
Ethereum
co-founder
highlighted
the
“one-sided
competence
trap”
as
a
recurring
issue
in
political
and
organizational
conflicts,
where
one
side
monopolizes
competence
but
fails
to
consider
broader
perspectives.
This
dynamic
hinders
constructive
dialogue
and
progress.
Buterin
stressed
the
importance
of
balanced
and
inclusive
approaches
to
avoid
such
traps.

“One
side
monopolizes
all
the
competent
people,
but
uses
its
power
to
push
a
narrow
and
biased
perspective;
the
other
side
correctly
recognizes
that
something
is
wrong,
but
engulfs
itself
in
a
focus
on
opposition,
failing
to
develop
the
technical
ability
to
execute
on
its
own,”
Buterin
argues.

Buterin
also
criticized
the
lack
of
technological
foresight
in
the
debates,
pointing
to
the
absence
of
discussions
on

zero-knowledge
proofs
(ZK-SNARKs),
which
could
have
offered
scalable
solutions.
He
asserts
that
the
“ultimate
diffuser”
of
political
tension
is
“not
compromise,
but
rather
new
technology.”

Impact
to
Ethereum
development

According
to
Buterin,
the
Bitcoin
block
size
war
significantly
influenced
Ethereum’s
development,
particularly
in
scaling,
governance,
and
decentralization.
Ethereum
learned
from
Bitcoin’s
reliance
on
a
single
client,
emphasizing
client
diversity
to
enhance
security
and
avoid
single
points
of
failure.

“Ethereum’s
focus
on
client
diversity
was
born
from
watching
the
failures
that
arose
from
Bitcoin
having
a
single
client
team.
Its
version
of
layer
2s
was
born
from
understanding
how
the
limitations
of
Bitcoin
lead
to
limitations
in
what
kinds
of
layer
2s
with
what
trust
properties
are
possible
to
build
on
top
of
it,”
Buterin
said.

It
also
adopted
a
multi-layered
scaling
approach,
improving
Layer
1
through
protocol
upgrades
like
Ethereum
2.0
and
implementing
Layer
2
solutions
such
as
rollups
to
handle
transactions
off-chain.
This
approach
aimed
to
maintain
scalability
while
ensuring
the
network
remained
decentralized
and
secure.
Technological
innovation
became
a
key
focus,
with
Ethereum
integrating
solutions
like

EIP-1559
and
zero-knowledge
proofs
(ZK-SNARKs)
to
enhance
scalability
and
user
experience.
By
adopting
a
layered
approach
to
transactions,
Ethereum
ensures
its
network
remains
accessible
and
affordable,
balancing
technical
improvements
with
user
needs.

The
block
size
war
also
shaped
Ethereum’s
governance
philosophy,
promoting
a
more
inclusive
and
transparent
decision-making
process
involving
various
stakeholders,
as
ideas
like
network
states
take
off
and
present
a
“digital
nation”
alternative
to
current
social
and
political
systems
founded
on
centralized
authority.

“Like
rebel
cryptocurrencies,
rebel
network
states
need
to
learn
to
actually
execute
and
build,
and
not
just
hold
parties
and
vibe
and
share
memes
comparing
modern
brutalism
to
16th-century
European
architecture
on
Twitter,”
Buterin
said
in
jest.