Doc Brown explains the only timeline that takes Bitcoin back to the future.
Doc Brown: Marty! Marty! I just got back from 2047 and there's no economy at all! No Fiat. No crypto. Not even Bitcoin!
Marty: Woah! Doc! That's heavy...
Doc Brown: Marty! Something's got to be done!
Marty: Why, Doc? What happened?
Doc Brown: There's been a fork in the space-time continuum. Somebody designated a block in the Bitcoin blockchain as being somehow special. Everybody took their bitcoins off the exchanges and held their private keys in a wallet that they personally control so that a snapshot could be taken of who owned which bitcoins. Now that ledger is portable. Bitcoins can be implemented on multiple platforms at the same time. It's unprecedented in all of human history!
'
Marty: That sounds like it ought to be good...
Doc Brown: NO! Marty! Don't you see? That only works if there's a platform that DOES implement Bitcoin and IS capable of scaling fast enough to get past the Great Crash of 2018! None of them do both! And when all the government fiat currencies collapse next year, there will be nothing to handle the massive flight to safety! All the world's wealth will just go "POOF!"
Marty: Doc, you're scaring me here...
Doc Brown: Listen, Marty, take a look at this simplified electrical schematic. (I'm sorry I didn't have time to wire up a scale model with working lights and switches...)
Marty: That's ok, Doc.
Doc Brown: This diagram shows a line of switches for each potential Bitcoin host platform. For that platform to still be hosting Bitcoin in 2047, all the switches in that platform's row have to be turned on.
Bitcoin Classic is out because it's already proven it can't handle current loads. Bitcoin is so backlogged you have to pay dollars to bribe the miners to process your transactions quickly. So everybody agrees its switch X is off. It's mining node operators (switch D) are just going to turn it off intentionally.
Bitcoin SEGWIT is all funded and built and they've decided to turn it on when they turn off Bitcoin-Classic. But it will never scale to handle next year's crisis. So its Switch X is off even though no one admits it. That's the real elephant in the room.
Bitcoin Cash is also funded and built and others have decided to turn it on at the same time. This is going to cause all kinds of transients in the market for nothing because it still can't scale near enough for next year. It may double BTC-Classic's throughput a couple of times from 7 to maybe 28 transactions per second but we'll need credit card transaction levels of bandwidth -- tens of thousands of transactions per second when the crisis hits. So Bitcoin Cash's Switch X is off too, and no one is calling them on it either.
Bitcoin Ether isn't even being thought about, so there's no funding, implementors or executors. It only handles maybe 28 transactions per second itself, so why bother? It already chokes up every time they try to do an ICO. All of its switches are off. It's dead in the water as a way to rescue everybody's bitcoins.
Bitcoin United would run on the BitShares network. Its the only one that can scale beyond hundreds of thousands of transactions per second in time. It's the only one that can run in real time with 3 second blocks. And its the only one that can do that while implementing a stable, inflation proof smartcoin like the Hero. BitShares is perfect for this job, but it won't help either.
Marty: What are you talking about Doc? The Bitcoin-United light is on in 2047! Why isn't that all we need!
Doc Brown: NO! Marty! Don't you see? It's only on because I drew this diagram with switches B, C, and D on in that row to show you the only workable end state! Those lights are not really on yet in this timeline! We've got to make sure they are!
Marty: But, Doc!
Doc Brown: Marty, Listen to me! If we don't get somebody to fund, implement, and execute a BitShares Pitch Fork to adopt and rescue Bitcoin before 2018 the implications for this planet will be catastrophic! Look at this Sports Almanac! There are no sports events of any kind after mid 2018. Everything just stops!
Marty: But that doesn't mean we have to be making a big stink and go spooking the market's right now Doc. I mean, why can't we take another snapshot later in the year, like in November or something, after we've had time to break it to them easy like. Maybe somebody else will think of something...
Doc Brown: No other block will work, Marty, because people won't have their keys in their own wallets off the exchanges. And after the BCC fork in August there will be TWO Bitcoins. We can't rescue them both. Marty, this is our only chance!
Marty: Well, I don't see any way we can do it Doc. I mean, where are we going to get that kind of support? I just don't think I could deal with that kind of rejection!
Doc Brown: Don't worry Marty, I have a plan...
Stan Larimer, President
Cryptonomex
The Godfather of BitShares, Bitcoin United, and the HERO
Image credits: see embedded links
About the Author -- Stan Larimer
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Greatest Hits
Bitcoin and the Three Laws of Robotics
Engineering Trust with Charles Hoskinson
The Origin of BitShares
The Hero from BitShares Island
BTC.BTS is the Bitcoin the world wants - fast, simple, scaling is already done and no more miner/developer drama fests.
Another point that should be made is that BTC.BTS would mean everyone can send and receive BTC using named accounts instead of hashes, similar sending STEEM or BTS. Much easier to send BTC to "johnsmith" than "1QLbz7JHiBTspS962RLKV8GndWFwi5j6Qr"
@stan Regardless, anonymity is one of the major factors that crypto has thrived on and was built on. A majority of transactions made with crypto currencies are made on dark markets. making receivers and sender non-anonymous would also help government to easily take over the crypto market.
You can have anonymous accounts and stealth transactions with BitShares.
@johnsmith I agree with you 100%
I love the fact that I can hear this entire dialog in my head as I read it :-) Good stuff Stan, love it.
I can hear the dialogs in the actors voice as I read it.
So can I! :)
hahah, yes, me too.
Lots of going round and round about the symbol.
BTC-U is too close to an existing symbol BTCU.
BTU is taken
BCU is good but get's lost in the alt-coin jungle.
We've decided to go in a new direction and develop a notation that includes the platform in the name:
BTC.BTS is Bitcoin on the BitShares platform.
BTC.ETH is Bitcoin on the Ethereum platform.
and for our Pièce de résistance:
BTC.BTS.EOS is... Bitcoin on the BitShares Platform on the EOS operating system!
Won't this look like "half BTC" in the eyes of bitcoin supporters? it also looks somewhat "complicated"
BTCU or BTC"something" would sound more "bitcoinish" imo
love to see how u play with those symbol @stan. I've been in this space for a while and yes, Bitshares desserve all the best. I also saw the powerfull and future of Bitshares when i discovered it in 2014. U can't imagine how many small business and cooperatives can leverage this platform to empower their activities. Congratulation and to the moon to Bitcoin United
too bad BTU is taken because this idea is HOT!!!
Good one Stan :)
I am always looking for something to be 'the one'. I'd like something to take over this fiat currency BS. Hopefully here soon too!
espectacular! una teoria muy interesante. @stan
A bubble of expectations.!
Cool story! We will see how it will evolve :)
Fun post, but as amazing as BitShares is, very few people are using it compared to all the other centralized exchanges. "Centralizing" bitcoin to the bitshares platform would never happen, but it's a nice story. Wishful thinking can be fun. :)
They aren't using it because it's bloody confusing. (plus I'm a bit sore since it seems to have anhilated my old wallet somehow and I'm worried about buying more BTS in case it decides that no accounts exist again on my computer even though it clearly does...)
The strange thing is it's probably one of the most confusing but nicest looking I've seen.
(I DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN OPEN LEDGER AND BTS)
Education is key. Your account is your responsibility, so if you didn't save a backup file, you're screwed.
And yes, the relationship between the BitShares DEX and OpenLedger is confusing. OpenLedger, as far as I understand, is a fork of the BitShares DEX with other things they've added such as the
OPEN.*tokens. It's still a bit confusing, but I think of it like busy.org, chainBB, and steemit. They all use the same blockchain, just have different interfaces for interacting with it.The only thing i would change in the description above is the referance to openledger being a fork of the Bitshares dex. Although i can see what your saying; I think it is better described as a business that is running ontop of the Bitshares blockchain same as busy.org run off the steem chain with a different UI.
Yeah, that's probably a better way to say it. The similarities in the UI make me think "fork of the code" though and also lead to the source of the confusion. These tools are really amazing, but they are technically challenging for most people to understand.
When it originally came out we called it the BitShares Exchange Network (Big BEN) because one blockchain serves as the backbone and common order book of a network of exchanges including openledger and freedom ledger. I'm probably missing some and deliberately not mentioning one that is to be.
Maybe having a name for the "standard" BitShares DEX+wallet might clear up some confusion. Maybe call it the "BitShares.org Wallet" or something? Most people, I think, think of this when they think of "BitShares" but that leads to confusion (much like "Bitcoin" and "bitcoin" are two different things... a protocol and a currency on that protocol).
I do have a backup file. It doesn't do shit. It says oh yes that is a backup file, and then still says nothing is there. Wat.
The whole thing with bitshares is confusing. I'd bet that's probably one of the main/only reasons it's not more popular, people don't understand it
I agree, it's quite confusing. I think it requires multiple backups every time something changes (i.e. you add a coin, do a transfer, etc). You may have a backup from before you had anything in it.
I have been to the future and know how it turns out!
That future its not the same more!
Well, "history is gonna change!"
Did you use a time machine like this?
I agree Luke. I don't know anyone using ButShares. But BitShares will surely solve a lot of problems.
Hahah! Thanks. Definitely need an edit there (wrote this up on my phone).
I'm a huge fan of BitShares and have posted about it multiple times trying to promote it to more people. The reality, today, is not enough people are using it to have real liquidity compared to centralized exchanges. That's really sad.
True, but like I said, "History is gonna change." :)
Once people find out either who John Galt is or who is creating His-Story the only change required is an Inside-Job ;-)
I read recently that bitshares are number 2 in terms of transaction volume behind only steem so people are actually using it.
Yes, people are using it (myself included), but compared to the main exchanges the liquidity is still unfortunately low. I hope more people use it.
ha, Doc Brown, I love it !! ... and bitcoin is powered by lighting from the clock tower !! (-:
Nice post @stan
varry
Hrmmm. My guess was that while you were in the future, you found out who the true culprit was with respect to Mt. Gox.
Thanks for coming back and sorting that mess out too. You are a man of many talents.
My hope is elavated... Nothing is impossible.
hopium?
love this character doc brown from Back To The Future
Humanity will have to learn about the zero-sum game economic or perish... one way or another
Bitcoin & The Manic Bullishness Of The Crowds Struck Again (WAM/Jeff Berwick Talk Cryptocurrencies) The real problem is bullishness, when some capitalize at the top, the lower levels are left holding the bag. Bullishness should be regarded as a destructive illusion and people stay away from it. It is easy to point at the greed of others but willing to take out more money than what one puts in is endangering civilization more and more.... more at @earthcustodians
When new technology adds so much more new value, it is not a zero sum game. Bitcoin's recognition and BitShares technology gives exponentially greater scaleability and usability and thus value to all involved.
haha, love it! Got my first bitshares yesterday, may buy some more today. I haven't transacted on the network yet, I am cost averaging my trade before I move it.
This implies that people are gonna rush to buy BTC after a fiat crash to begin with?
In the lead up. Check out the "flight to safety" link Doc mentioned.
Very interesting and informative. Thank you.
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That is the main issue with decentralisation. Whenever there is split on trust a new coin will emerge. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
It avoids monopolies in hardware or software implementations. Good to make forward progress in the face of otherwise stifling network effect.
This theory is brilliant. I hope it will work
@stan,
Nice article and it means a lot. But what I feel is, without miners and hash codes BitCoin is not perfect :D
Thanks for sharing this great article!
Cheers~
Not surprising that I watched again the whole movies during the last month, and then this pops up on Steemit, hat off to you Sir, hat off.
I keep seeing you mention that it takes days to send coins and how expensive it is: this is flat out false. Bitcoin transactions cost under $0.25 and go through almost instantly. The mempool was bloated due to manipulation by either Jihan or Roger because they want larger blocks: once they lost that debate they stopped spamming transactions and decided to do a fork nobody wants instead.
Ah. Thanks for that insight. So let's call what they did a "stress test".
BitShares had one of those. A bunch of community leaders threw everything they had at it and we clocked 3300 TPS without taking the sweat-o-meter off zero. No one could generate enough spam at one time for BitShares to even notice.
@stan - is this definitely going forward on August 1st? Are you starting BTC-U simultaneously with BCC?
We'll use the same snapshot for the reason's Doc Brown suggested. But Switches B, C, and D still need to be thrown to make it a reality. BTC.BTS already exist, locked up in the virtual world of what could be. The trick will be to get them out of there and into their owner's hands. Just like the BTC still locked up the Mt Gox legal limbo.
Free The Bitcoins United will be our battle cry!
Fortunately, I don't think bitcoin needs saving. But I do thank you, Stan, for a very entertaining read.
To pull off Doc's plan, don't forget that you will need at least 1.21 gigawatts ;)
1.21 gigawatts? 1.21 GIGAWATTS? Marty, where am I gonna get that kind of power!
You had me at Doc Brown... Thank you. This is very well done.
Well hurry, we don't have many days left Doc!
please my entire bitcoin thresh-hold is 0.0007, will it all waste?
Am gathering bit by bit to make a full one sell and buy steem.....
OK, @stan Love the Article we upvoted it and will resteem this to our followers. Quick question will Bitcoin United be powered using the EOS Code and BTS or will it be a Competition?
I have no idea what you guys are talking about but it sounds interesting....LOL
thats an very interesting article you wrote !
But Doc, whats the Plan ? Doc tell me, where we heading ?!
WTG @stan i am totally new to all this and your post made everything much clearer and comprehensible. The fact that I am a Back to the future fan might have had a lot to do with it..lol My hats off to you and I look forward to more of your posts. Hmm how many planets have you developed space systems for? Maybe you should talk to the staff at Gaia.tv..they would love to interview you. Especially cosmic disclosure..just saying.
I think we desperately need another Doc Brown pt.4! Stan the world needs more of your awesomeness !
Please Upvote my posting..
Hehehe
This is a great from of post to get information across. Well done.
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