Brunswick on Nostr: 1. Bitcoin’s Rules Are Defined by Software, but Adoption Is Voluntary Bitcoin is ...
1. Bitcoin’s Rules Are Defined by Software, but Adoption Is Voluntary
Bitcoin is open-source software with a specific set of protocol rules (for example, block size limits, supply schedules, etc.).
Anyone can copy the software, modify the rules, and create a fork (e.g., Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV), but that doesn’t guarantee the resulting fork will be accepted by others.
The only reason original Bitcoin remains the “real Bitcoin” for most people is that the majority of economic actors—holders, exchanges, merchants, node operators—continue using its consensus rules.
This leads to a key concept: If you (and enough others) do not accept a new or altered set of rules, you’re effectively rejecting that fork as “Bitcoin.”
2. “Real” Bitcoin is Determined by Economic Consensus
Despite the existence of a reference implementation (Bitcoin Core), there is no central authority or official “Bitcoin HQ.” Rather, Bitcoin’s legitimacy stems from a distributed, bottom-up consensus among its users and the broader economy:
a. Hodlers / Owners of Bitcoin:
By controlling the private keys to your bitcoins, you can choose which version of the Bitcoin protocol you run (or which node you trust).
If a certain fork occurs and you believe that it goes against what you consider “true Bitcoin,” you can keep your coins on what you regard as the valid chain and ignore the forked chain (or sell those forked coins if they have any market value).
b. Recipients of Bitcoin (Merchants, Businesses, Individuals):
When someone wants to pay you in “bitcoin,” you can decide to accept or reject a transaction based on whether the network sending it matches your vision of Bitcoin.
If the payer offers you a forked coin that you don’t consider legitimate, you can refuse it. Conversely, if you consider the fork more legitimate, you might prefer it over the original chain.
Ultimately, your willingness to accept a particular coin as payment is what gives it economic weight.
3. A Commercial Transaction Illustrates the Power of Choice
Let’s walk through a simple scenario:
a. Buyer Offers Bitcoin: A buyer says, “I’ll pay 0.01 BTC for your product.”
b. Recipient Verifies Payment: The recipient checks the payment on a node (or a wallet) that uses the consensus rules they accept as “real Bitcoin.”
c. Potential Fork Conflict:
If the buyer tries to send 0.01 units of a forked chain (e.g., “Bitcoin XYZ”), but the recipient is only willing to accept the original Bitcoin chain, the recipient’s wallet or node might say, “This transaction is invalid—no such chain recognized.”
The recipient simply will not deliver the goods unless the payment is recognized under the rules they trust.
Thus, the buyer and recipient both need to agree which chain or version of Bitcoin they are using to conduct commerce. If they disagree, no transaction happens.
4. Network Effect and Shared Ledger
Network Effect: People generally want to use the version of Bitcoin that has the most liquidity, infrastructure support (exchanges, wallets, payment processors), and user confidence.
Shared Ledger: One reason Bitcoin has such value is that everyone agrees on a single ledger for the “real Bitcoin.” When forks happen, they split the ledger into multiple versions, which can cause confusion for everyday users.
Because of these factors, most users align with whichever chain they perceive has the strongest economic consensus (i.e., “the main chain” or “the original rules”).
5. How Individuals Enforce Their Choice
a. Running a Node:
If you run your own node, you enforce your preferred rules. That node will ignore blocks and transactions violating your chosen rules.
This ensures that you personally view only valid transactions in your version of the ledger.
b. Choosing a Wallet / Node Provider You Trust:
Even if you don’t run a node yourself, you can pick a wallet provider or node operator whose rules match your understanding of Bitcoin.
This means if that provider rejects a new fork, you do too (by default), or if they adopt it, you are implicitly adopting it—unless you choose a different provider.
c. Rejecting or Accepting Forked Coins:
If a fork occurs, you might be “airdropped” additional coins on the new chain (equal to your BTC balance).
You can choose to sell them (for more BTC or fiat) or ignore them. Keeping your “old” BTC intact on the original chain is always an option.
6. Collective Decision: No Single Person Decides—It’s a Market Process
The idea that “the hodler and the recipient in a commercial transaction decide what’s real Bitcoin” is part of a broader, decentralized decision process:
If enough people keep using original Bitcoin software (or a particular upgrade), that chain remains the most recognized version of Bitcoin.
If many people suddenly shift to a new fork because they believe it’s superior, that fork could gain traction and potentially become the new “main” chain in the eyes of the market.
In practice, because Bitcoin has so many users, exchanges, miners, and businesses worldwide, switching to a different chain requires widespread agreement. This is why major forks of Bitcoin (like Bitcoin Cash) generally remain minority chains: the majority of the economic actors did not follow them.
7. Bottom Line
Bitcoin has no central authority to proclaim what is “real” Bitcoin. Instead, the network’s participants—especially holders and merchants who actually transact—enforce the rules they believe define Bitcoin.
If there’s a disagreement on rules (leading to a fork), it’s the collective acceptance or rejection of those forked coins in real-world transactions that decides whether the new fork is just another altcoin or “the real Bitcoin.”
Practically speaking, all it takes is the buyer and seller to say, “yes, we recognize these rules/this chain” for commerce to proceed. If they disagree, the transaction doesn’t happen, or they must find a different settlement method.
By exercising this power of choice in every commercial transaction, individual participants—not a central entity—ultimately shape Bitcoin’s consensus and determine which chain and rules are deemed “real.”
Bitcoin is open-source software with a specific set of protocol rules (for example, block size limits, supply schedules, etc.).
Anyone can copy the software, modify the rules, and create a fork (e.g., Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV), but that doesn’t guarantee the resulting fork will be accepted by others.
The only reason original Bitcoin remains the “real Bitcoin” for most people is that the majority of economic actors—holders, exchanges, merchants, node operators—continue using its consensus rules.
This leads to a key concept: If you (and enough others) do not accept a new or altered set of rules, you’re effectively rejecting that fork as “Bitcoin.”
2. “Real” Bitcoin is Determined by Economic Consensus
Despite the existence of a reference implementation (Bitcoin Core), there is no central authority or official “Bitcoin HQ.” Rather, Bitcoin’s legitimacy stems from a distributed, bottom-up consensus among its users and the broader economy:
a. Hodlers / Owners of Bitcoin:
By controlling the private keys to your bitcoins, you can choose which version of the Bitcoin protocol you run (or which node you trust).
If a certain fork occurs and you believe that it goes against what you consider “true Bitcoin,” you can keep your coins on what you regard as the valid chain and ignore the forked chain (or sell those forked coins if they have any market value).
b. Recipients of Bitcoin (Merchants, Businesses, Individuals):
When someone wants to pay you in “bitcoin,” you can decide to accept or reject a transaction based on whether the network sending it matches your vision of Bitcoin.
If the payer offers you a forked coin that you don’t consider legitimate, you can refuse it. Conversely, if you consider the fork more legitimate, you might prefer it over the original chain.
Ultimately, your willingness to accept a particular coin as payment is what gives it economic weight.
3. A Commercial Transaction Illustrates the Power of Choice
Let’s walk through a simple scenario:
a. Buyer Offers Bitcoin: A buyer says, “I’ll pay 0.01 BTC for your product.”
b. Recipient Verifies Payment: The recipient checks the payment on a node (or a wallet) that uses the consensus rules they accept as “real Bitcoin.”
c. Potential Fork Conflict:
If the buyer tries to send 0.01 units of a forked chain (e.g., “Bitcoin XYZ”), but the recipient is only willing to accept the original Bitcoin chain, the recipient’s wallet or node might say, “This transaction is invalid—no such chain recognized.”
The recipient simply will not deliver the goods unless the payment is recognized under the rules they trust.
Thus, the buyer and recipient both need to agree which chain or version of Bitcoin they are using to conduct commerce. If they disagree, no transaction happens.
4. Network Effect and Shared Ledger
Network Effect: People generally want to use the version of Bitcoin that has the most liquidity, infrastructure support (exchanges, wallets, payment processors), and user confidence.
Shared Ledger: One reason Bitcoin has such value is that everyone agrees on a single ledger for the “real Bitcoin.” When forks happen, they split the ledger into multiple versions, which can cause confusion for everyday users.
Because of these factors, most users align with whichever chain they perceive has the strongest economic consensus (i.e., “the main chain” or “the original rules”).
5. How Individuals Enforce Their Choice
a. Running a Node:
If you run your own node, you enforce your preferred rules. That node will ignore blocks and transactions violating your chosen rules.
This ensures that you personally view only valid transactions in your version of the ledger.
b. Choosing a Wallet / Node Provider You Trust:
Even if you don’t run a node yourself, you can pick a wallet provider or node operator whose rules match your understanding of Bitcoin.
This means if that provider rejects a new fork, you do too (by default), or if they adopt it, you are implicitly adopting it—unless you choose a different provider.
c. Rejecting or Accepting Forked Coins:
If a fork occurs, you might be “airdropped” additional coins on the new chain (equal to your BTC balance).
You can choose to sell them (for more BTC or fiat) or ignore them. Keeping your “old” BTC intact on the original chain is always an option.
6. Collective Decision: No Single Person Decides—It’s a Market Process
The idea that “the hodler and the recipient in a commercial transaction decide what’s real Bitcoin” is part of a broader, decentralized decision process:
If enough people keep using original Bitcoin software (or a particular upgrade), that chain remains the most recognized version of Bitcoin.
If many people suddenly shift to a new fork because they believe it’s superior, that fork could gain traction and potentially become the new “main” chain in the eyes of the market.
In practice, because Bitcoin has so many users, exchanges, miners, and businesses worldwide, switching to a different chain requires widespread agreement. This is why major forks of Bitcoin (like Bitcoin Cash) generally remain minority chains: the majority of the economic actors did not follow them.
7. Bottom Line
Bitcoin has no central authority to proclaim what is “real” Bitcoin. Instead, the network’s participants—especially holders and merchants who actually transact—enforce the rules they believe define Bitcoin.
If there’s a disagreement on rules (leading to a fork), it’s the collective acceptance or rejection of those forked coins in real-world transactions that decides whether the new fork is just another altcoin or “the real Bitcoin.”
Practically speaking, all it takes is the buyer and seller to say, “yes, we recognize these rules/this chain” for commerce to proceed. If they disagree, the transaction doesn’t happen, or they must find a different settlement method.
By exercising this power of choice in every commercial transaction, individual participants—not a central entity—ultimately shape Bitcoin’s consensus and determine which chain and rules are deemed “real.”
quoting nevent1q…59ajThanks.
So let me get this straight. If you own bitcoin and you run your own node you can choose the software to run on the node and therefore choose the bitcoin you own and run through your node.
If you store your bitcoin on a hard wallet which is run via a node chosen by the builders of the wallet. You still always own the bitcoin but the wallet provider chooses the type of bitcoin you own because they’re choosing the software they’re running?