Satoshi's Page is changing.
For several years, much of my work centred on Bitcoin and the possibility that decentralised rules could produce better outcomes.
Then something happened that caused me to question some of my assumptions.
What began as a disagreement around Bitcoin Core eventually led me back to a much bigger question I’ve been asking for most of my life:
Why do systems designed to produce good outcomes so often produce bad ones?
This five-part series tells the story of how I got there.
1. Why I Shut Down My Bitcoin Nodes
A disagreement over changes to Bitcoin Core challenged some of my assumptions about decentralisation and ultimately led me to switch off my own nodes. But doing so raised a much bigger question about what running a node really means.
If node runners don't make Bitcoin's rules, who does?
2. Who Actually Governs Bitcoin?
Bitcoin has no CEO, government or central authority. Instead, power is distributed between developers, miners, node operators, businesses and users. But what happens when those participants disagree about the network’s direction?
Who ultimately decides what Bitcoin becomes?
3. Who Makes The Rules?
From Magna Carta to modern government, societies have repeatedly tried to use rules to constrain power. Bitcoin attempts something different: rules maintained through a decentralised network rather than imposed by a central authority.
Can rules constrain power without eventually becoming another source of it?
4. Decentralised in Theory, Decentralised in Practice?
Bitcoin may be decentralised by design, but decentralisation also depends upon people being able to participate independently. As the demands of running and using network infrastructure grow, participation may become harder.
Can decentralisation survive if meaningful participation becomes increasingly demanding?
5. Bad Rules?
Before Truth Decay, I planned to write a book called Bad Rules. Years later, questions about Bitcoin have brought me back to that abandoned idea and a much broader investigation into rules, incentives and unintended consequences.
Why do systems designed to produce good outcomes so often produce bad ones?
Where next?
Bad Rules marks the beginning of a much broader investigation into rules, incentives, institutions and unintended consequences.
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