The “Forward Blocks” proposal is very dangerous to the ethos of bitcoin and it should be resisted.
The bitcoin network protocol’s internal and external *immutability* is above all the most valuable single thing in existence to humanity. Full stop. If you disagree, you don’t yet realize the disruption “blockchain” will bring, soon.
The “Forward Blocks” proposal claims to make it possible to execute a consensus change with a soft fork rather than a hard fork. This is an attack on bitcoin’s immutability.
“Blockchains” promise to eliminate the need for trust. The measure of success in “blockchain” is to what degree your protocol is trust-less and not permissioned. The spectrum of this is from bitcoin to IBM blockchain, or from immutable to permissioned.
Bitcoin is the only organic, open, public, blockchain. All others that came after gained their value from bootstrapping to bitcoin. All other blockchains are, for lack of a better word, enterprises with foundations and a purpose. Bitcoin’s only purpose is to be pure “blockchain”.
If bitcoin loses it’s immutability, it’s pure “blockchainyness”, the great experiment is over... at least from the ultimate store of value perspective. Bitcoin would no longer be better than gold by orders of magnitude.
Humanity needs a trust-free anchor to authenticity. Don’t take it away from us. Keep bitcoin immutable. #NoForwardBlockForBTC
