Supply Shock Bitcoin Wars 2.0: Who’s on the Right Side of History? | Jonathan Bier
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Sep 16, 2025 Johnathan Bier, author of The Blocksize War and Bitwise advisor, dives into the heated debate between Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Knots. He shares insights on how this current conflict mirrors past fork wars, emphasizing strong ideological divides over block size and fee structures. The discussion tackles the vital roles of mining decentralization and network diversity, questioning whether Bitcoin should integrate non-monetary data. Bier highlights potential future challenges and the importance of open-source solutions to ensure Bitcoin’s resilient and decentralized future.
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History Repeats In New Fork Dispute
- Both Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Nots claim the "small-blocker" legacy and see themselves as underdogs defending Bitcoin's purity.
- Many arguments today mirror the 2015–2017 block size war, including fee-market and relay-policy debates.
Fee Market As Core Priority
- Bitcoin Core prioritizes strengthening the fee market so transaction fees determine block inclusion over time.
- Jonathan Bier sees ensuring robust mining incentives and fees as one of Bitcoin's biggest problems to solve.
Private Fee Services Centralize Mining
- Direct-to-miner submission services (accelerators, slipstream) centralize fee access and risk miner centralization.
- Bier calls these services "very, very bad" because they bypass the public mempool and harm decentralization.
