list of links for quick copypasting when debating on forums, also useful as a reading list
this was posted on reddit, link is https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7mh8c2/long_live_decentralized_bitcoin_a_reading_list/
some of these links may be subject to linkrot, try looking on archive.org or archive.is
a trip to the moon requires a rocket with multiple stages by gmaxwell https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/438hx0/a_trip_to_the_moon_requires_a_rocket_with/
bram cohen, creator of bittorrent, argues against a hard fork to a larger block size https://medium.com/@bramcohen/bitcoin-s-ironic-crisis-32226a85e39f#.558vetum4
gmaxwell's summary of the debate https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1343716.msg13701818#msg13701818
core devs please explain your vision (see luke's post which also argues that blocks are already too big) https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/61yvvv/request_to_core_devs_please_explain_your_vision/
mod of r/btc speaking against a hard fork https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/57hd14/core_reaction_to_viabtc_this_week/d8scokm/
blockchain space must be costly, it can never be free https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4og24h/i_just_attended_the_distributed_trade_conference/
charlie lee with a nice analogy about the fundamental tradeoff https://medium.com/@SatoshiLite/eating-the-bitcoin-cake-fc2b4ebfb85e#.444vr8shw
gmaxwell on the tradeoffs https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1520693.msg15303746#msg15303746
jratcliff on the layering https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/59upyh/segwit_the_poison_pill_for_bitcoin/d9bstuw/
Luke-jr's talk at MCC conference 5/2019 http://diyhpl.us/wiki/transcripts/magicalcryptoconference/2019/why-block-sizes-should-not-be-too-big/ slides: https://luke.dashjr.org/tmp/code/block-sizes-mcc.pdf
Peter Todd: How a floating blocksize limit inevitably leads towards centralization [Feb 2013] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=144895.0 mailing list https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2013-February/002176.html with discussion on reddit in Aug 2015 https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3hnvi8/just_a_little_history_lesson_for_everyone_new_the/
nick szabo's blog post on what makes bitcoin so special http://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2017/02/money-blockchains-and-social-scalability.html
It's becoming clear to me that a lot of people don't understand how fragile bitcoin is. Eloquent explaination of why decentralization is important. https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/59kflj/its_becoming_clear_to_me_that_a_lot_of_people/
There is academic research showing that even small (2MB) increases to the blocksize results in drastic node dropoff counts due to the non-linear increase of RAM needed. http://bravenewcoin.com/assets/Whitepapers/block-size-1.1.1.pdf
Reddit summary of above link. In this table, you can see it estimates a 40% drop immediately in node count with a 2MB upgrade and a 50% over 6 months. At 4mb, it becomes 75% immediately and 80% over 6 months. At 8, it becomes 90% and 95%. https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5qw2wr/a_future_led_by_bitcoin_unlimited_is_a/dd442pw/
larger block sizes make centralization pressures worse (mathematical) https://petertodd.org/2016/block-publication-incentives-for-miners
talk at scalingbitcoin montreal, initial blockchain synchronization puts serious constraints on any increase in the block size https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgjrS-BPWDQ&t=2h02m06s with transcript https://scalingbitcoin.org/transcript/montreal2015/block-synchronization-time
Bitcoin's P2P Network: The Soft Underbelly of Bitcoin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6kibPzbrIc someone's notes: https://gist.github.com/romyilano/5e22394857a39889a1e5 reddit discussion https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4py5df/so_f2pool_antpool_btcc_pool_are_actually_one_pool/ NOTE: this information is heavily out of date as of jan 2020
In adversarial environments blockchains dont scale https://scalingbitcoin.org/transcript/hongkong2015/in-adversarial-environments-blockchains-dont-scale
Why miners will not voluntarily individually produce smaller blocks https://scalingbitcoin.org/transcript/hongkong2015/why-miners-will-not-voluntarily-individually-produce-smaller-blocks
hal finney: bitcoin's blockchain can only be a settlement layer (mostly interesting because it's hal finney and its in 2010) https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3sb5nj/most_bitcoin_transactions_will_occur_between/
petertodd's 2013 video explaining this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZp7UGgBR0I and the bitcointalk thread with good discussion https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=208200.0
lukejr's summary https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/61yvvv/request_to_core_devs_please_explain_your_vision/dficjhj/
another jratcliff thread https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6lmpll/explaining_why_big_blocks_are_bad/
summary of all the above links in the discussion here https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/76yxda/i_have_a_block_size_question/doholtm/
lopp's detailed analysis of the problems of scaling using SPV and bip37 https://blog.lopp.net/could-spv-support-a-billion-bitcoin-users-sizing-up-a-scaling-claim/
blocks must be always full, there must always be a backlog https://medium.com/@bergealex4/bitcoin-is-unstable-without-the-block-size-size-limit-70db07070a54#.kh2vi86lr
same as above, the mining gap means there must always be a backlog talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2453&v=iKDC2DpzNbw transcript: https://scalingbitcoin.org/transcript/montreal2015/security-of-diminishing-block-subsidy
backlogs arent that bad https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/49p011/was_the_fee_event_really_so_bad_my_mind_is/
examples where scarce block space causes people to use precious resources more efficiently https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4kxxvj/i_just_singlehandedly_increased_bitcoin_network/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/47d4m2/why_does_coinbase_make_2_transactions_per/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/53wucs/why_arent_blocks_full_yet/d7x19iv
full blocks are fine https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5uld1a/misconception_full_blocks_mean_bitcoin_is_failing/
high miner fees imply a sustainable future for bitcoin https://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinMarkets/comments/680tvf/fundamentals_friday_week_of_friday_april_28_2017/dgwmhl7/
gmaxwell on why full blocks are good https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6b57ca/full_blocks_good_or_bad/dhjxwbz/
The whole idea of the mempool being "filled" is wrong headed. The mempool doesn't "clog" or get stuck, or anything like that. https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7cusnx/to_the_people_still_doubting_that_this_congestion/dpssokf/
luke-jr's longer summary https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6033h7/today_is_exactly_4_months_since_the_segwit_voting/df3tgwg/?context=1
Charlie Shrem's on upgrading to segwit https://twitter.com/CharlieShrem/status/842711238853513220
original segwit talk at scalingbitcoin hong kong + transcript https://youtu.be/zchzn7aPQjI?t=110
https://scalingbitcoin.org/transcript/hongkong2015/segregated-witness-and-its-impact-on-scalability
segwit is not too complex https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/57vjin/segwit_is_not_great/d8vos33/
segwit does not make it possible for miners to steal coins, contrary to what some people say https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/5e6bt0/concerns_with_segwit_and_anyone_can_spend/daa5jat/?context=1
https://keepingstock.net/segwit-eli5-misinformation-faq-19908ceacf23#.r8hlzaquz
segwit is required for a useful lightning network It's now known that without a malleability fix useful indefinite channels are not really possible.
Clearing up SegWit Lies and Myths: https://achow101.com/2016/04/Segwit-FUD-Clearup
segwit is bigger blocks https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5pb8vs/misinformation_is_working_54_incorrectly_believe/dcpz3en/
typical usage results in segwit allowing capacity equivalent to 2mb blocks https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/69i2md/observe_for_yourself_segwit_allows_2_mb_blocks_in/
jihan wu (head of largest bitcoin mining group) is blocking segwit because of perceived loss of income https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/60mb9e/complete_high_quality_translation_of_jihans/
witness discount creates aligned incentives https://segwit.org/why-a-discount-factor-of-4-why-not-2-or-8-bbcebe91721e#.h36odthq0 https://medium.com/@SegWit.co/what-is-behind-the-segwit-discount-988f29dc1edf#.sr91dg406
or because he wants his mining enterprise to have control over bitcoin https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6jdyk8/direct_report_of_jihan_wus_real_reason_for/
Segwit is being blocked because it breaks ASICBOOST, a patented optimization used by bitmain ASIC manufacturer
details and discovery by gmaxwell https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-April/013996.html
reddit thread with discussion https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/63otrp/gregory_maxwell_major_asic_manufacturer_is/
simplified explaination by jonny1000 https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/64qq5g/attempted_explanation_of_the_alleged_asicboost/
http://www.mit.edu/~jlrubin/public/pdfs/Asicboost.pdf
https://medium.com/@jimmysong/examining-bitmains-claims-about-asicboost-1d61118c678d
evidence https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/63yo27/some_circumstantial_evidence_supporting_the_claim/
bitmain admits their chips have asicboost but they say they never used it on the network (haha a likely story) https://blog.bitmain.com/en/regarding-recent-allegations-smear-campaigns/
circumstantial evidence based on extraNonce that bitmain started using asicboost around block #400,000 (Feburary 2016) https://np.reddit.com/r/BitcoinDiscussion/comments/7uxmzz/a_candidate_heuristic_for_covert_asicboost/
worth $100m per year to them (also in gmaxwell's original email) https://twitter.com/petertoddbtc/status/849798529929424898
other calculations show less https://medium.com/@vcorem/the-real-savings-from-asicboost-to-bitmaintech-ff265c2d305b
this also blocks all these other cool updates, not just segwit https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/63otrp/gregory_maxwell_major_asic_manufacturer_is/dfw0ej3/
summary of bad consequences of asicboost https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/64qq5g/attempted_explanation_of_the_alleged_asicboost/dg4hyqk/?context=1
luke's summary of the entire situation https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6ego3s/why_is_killing_asicboost_not_a_priority/diagkkb/?context=1
prices goes up because now segwit looks more likely https://twitter.com/TuurDemeester/status/849846845425799168
asicboost discovery made the price rise https://twitter.com/TuurDemeester/status/851520094677200901
a pool was caught red handed doing asicboost, by this time it seemed fairly certain that segwit would get activated so it didnt produce as much interest as earlier https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6p7lr5/1hash_pool_has_mined_2_invalid_blocks/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6p95dl/interesting_1hash_pool_mined_some_invalid_blocks/ and https://twitter.com/petertoddbtc/status/889475196322811904
what if segwit never activates? https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6ab8js/transaction_fees_are_now_making_btc_like_the_banks/dhdq3id/ with https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5ksu3o/blinded_bearer_certificates/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4xy0fm/scaling_quickly/
bitcoinmagazine's series on what lightning is and how it works https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/understanding-the-lightning-network-part-building-a-bidirectional-payment-channel-1464710791/ https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/understanding-the-lightning-network-part-creating-the-network-1465326903/ https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/understanding-the-lightning-network-part-completing-the-puzzle-and-closing-the-channel-1466178980/
The Lightning Network ELIDHDICACS (Explain Like I Don’t Have Degrees in Cryptography and Computer Science) https://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/the-lightning-network-elidhdicacs
great reddit thread on LN https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7pwna9/lightning_network_megathread/
lightning will increases fees for miners, not lower them https://medium.com/lightning-resources/the-lightning-paradox-f15ce0e8e374#.erfgunumh
cost-benefit analysis of lightning from the point of view of miners https://medium.com/@rusty_lightning/miners-and-bitcoin-lightning-a133cd550310#.x42rovlg8
routing blog post by rusty https://medium.com/@rusty_lightning/routing-dijkstra-bellman-ford-and-bfg-7715840f004 and reddit comments https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4lzkz1/rusty_russell_on_lightning_routing_routing/
lightning protocol rfc https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc
blog post with screenshots of ln being used on testnet https://medium.com/@btc_coach/lightning-network-in-action-b18a035c955d video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxGiMu4V7ns
video of sending and receiving ln on testnet https://twitter.com/alexbosworth/status/844030573131706368
lightning tradeoffs http://www.coindesk.com/lightning-technical-challenges-bitcoin-scalability/
beer sold for testnet lightning https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/62uw23/lightning_network_is_working_room77_is_accepting/ and https://twitter.com/MrHodl/status/848265171269283845
lightning will result in far fewer coins being stored on third parties because it supports instant transactions https://medium.com/@thecryptoconomy/the-barely-discussed-incredible-benefit-of-the-lightning-network-4ce82c75eb58
jgarzik argues strongly against LN, he owns a coin tracking startup https://twitter.com/petertoddbtc/status/860826532650123264 https://twitter.com/Beautyon_/status/886128801926795264
luke's great debunking / answer of some misinformation questions https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6st4eq/questions_about_lightning_network/dlfap0u/
lightning centralization doesnt happen https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6vzau5/reminder_bitcoins_key_strength_is_in_being/dm4ou3v/?context=1
roasbeef on hubs and charging fees https://twitter.com/roasbeef/status/930209165728825344 and https://twitter.com/roasbeef/status/930210145790976000
Immutability / Being a swiss bank in your pocket / Why doing a hard fork (especially without consensus) is damaging
a downside of hard forks is damaging bitcoin's immutability https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5em6vu/what_happens_if_segwit_doesnt_activate/dae1r6c/?context=3
interesting analysis of miners incentives and how failure is possible, don't trust the miners for long term https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5gtew4/why_an_increased_block_size_increases_the_cost_of/daybazj/?context=2
waxwing on the meaning of cash and settlement https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5ei7m3/unconfirmed_transactions_60k_total_fees_14btc/dad001v/
maaku on the cash question https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5i5iq5/we_are_spoiled/db5luiv/?context=1
digital gold funamentalists gain nothing from supporting a hard fork to larger block sizes https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5xzunq/core_please_compromise_before_we_end_up_with_bu/dem73xg/?context=1
those asking for a compromise don't understand the underlying political forces https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6ef7wb/some_comments_on_the_bip148_uasf_from_the/dia236b/?context=3
nobody wants a contentious hard fork actually, anti-core people got emotionally manipulated https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5sq5or/contentious_forks_vs_incremental_progress/ddip57o/
the hard work of the core developers has kept bitcoin scalable https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3hfgpo/an_initiative_to_bring_advanced_privacy_features/cu7mhw8?context=9
recent PRs to improve bitcoin scaleability ignored by the debate https://twitter.com/jfnewbery/status/883001356168167425
gmaxwell against hard forks since 2013 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=140233.20
maaku: hard forks are really bad https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5zxjza/adam_greg_core_devs_and_big_blockers_now_is_the/df275yk/?context=2
The price history shows that the exchange rate drops every time a hard fork threatens: https://i.imgur.com/EVPYLR8.jpg
and this example from 2017 https://twitter.com/WhalePanda/status/845562763820912642
http://imgur.com/a/DuHAn r/btc users lose money
price supporting theymos' moderation https://i.imgur.com/0jZdF9h.png
old version https://i.imgur.com/BFTxTJl.png
older version https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CxqtUakUQAEmC0d.jpg
about 50% of nodes updated to the soft fork node quite quickly https://imgur.com/O0xboVI
Bitcoin Unlimited was a proposed hard fork client, it was made with the intention to stop segwit from activating
A Future Led by Bitcoin Unlimited is a Centralized Future https://blog.sia.tech/a-future-led-by-bitcoin-unlimited-is-a-centralized-future-e48ab52c817a#.p1ly6hldk
flexible transactions are bugged https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/57tf5g/bitcoindev_bluematt_on_flexible_transactions/
bugged BU software mines an invalid block, wasting 13 bitcoins or $12k
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5qwtr2/bitcoincom_loses_132btc_trying_to_fork_the/
https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/5qx18i/bitcoincom_loses_132btc_trying_to_fork_the/
bitcoin.com employees are moderators of r/btc https://medium.com/@WhalePanda/the-curious-relation-between-bitcoin-com-anti-segwit-propaganda-26c877249976#.vl02566k4
miners don't control stuff like the block size http://hackingdistributed.com/2016/01/03/time-for-bitcoin-user-voice/
even gavin agreed that economic majority controls things https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5ywoi9/in_2010_gavin_predicted_that_exchanges_ie_the/
fork clients are trying to steal bitcoin's brand and network effect, theyre no different from altcoins https://medium.com/@Coinosphere/why-bitcoin-unlimited-should-be-correctly-classified-as-an-attempted-robbery-of-bitcoin-not-a-9355d075763c#.qeaynlx5m
BU being active makes it easier to reverse payments, increases wasted work making the network less secure and giving an advantage to bigger miners https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5g1x84/bitcoin_unlimited_bu_median_value_of_miner_eb/
bitcoin unlimited takes power away from users and gives it to miners https://medium.com/@alpalpalp/bitcoin-unlimiteds-placebo-controls-6320cbc137d4#.q0dv15gd5
bitcoin unlimited's accepted depth https://twitter.com/tdryja/status/804770009272696832
BU's lying propaganda poster https://imgur.com/osrViDE
finally lots of BU nodes shut off Feb 2018 https://twitter.com/StopAndDecrypt/status/964974123905626112
bitcoin unlimited allegedly funded by kraken stolen coins
https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/55ajuh/taint_analysis_on_bitcoin_stolen_from_kraken_on/
https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/559miz/taint_analysis_on_btc_allegedly_stolen_from_kraken/
other funding stuff
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5zozmn/damning_evidence_on_how_bitcoin_unlimited_pays/
a serious bug in BU https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5h70s3/bitcoin_unlimited_bu_the_developers_have_realized/
A summary of what's wrong with BU: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5z3wg2/jihanwu_we_will_switch_the_entire_pool_to/devak98/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5zdkv3/bitcoin_unlimited_remote_exploit_crash/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5zeb76/timber/ https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/5zdrru/peter_todd_bu_remote_crash_dos_wtf_bug_assert0_in/
BU devs calling it as disaster https://twitter.com/SooMartindale/status/841758265188966401 also r/btc deleted a thread about the exploit https://i.imgur.com/lVvFRqN.png
summary of incident https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5zf97j/i_was_undecided_now_im_not/
more than 20 exchanges will list BTU as an altcoin
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5zyg6g/bitcoin_exchanges_unveil_emergency_hard_fork/
again a few days later https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/60qmkt/bu_is_taking_another_shit_timberrrrrr/
A blockchain transaction survallance company wanted to use bitcoin classic to roll back privacy features
The hard fork client "Bitcoin Classic" has a github, where a tracking company user tried to get code merged that would undo features aimed at making it harder to track the source of unconfirmed transactions
bitcoinclassic/bitcoinclassic#15
bitcoinclassic/bitcoinclassic#16
bitcoinclassic/bitcoinclassic#17
The coder plainly states their intentions:
The trickle code appears to have been designed to make IP tracing of transaction origins harder and breaks out transaction IP origin tracking capability. We mass connect to all bitcoin nodes and probe them for transactions in order to bypass any trickle delays(which makes it more difficult to find out where transactions are originating from). Since we are in the business of double spend tracking and compliance tracking(for sites that aren't legally allowed to serve certain jurisdictions) it makes our jobs more difficult
The github username which made those commits is blocktracker and their email is [email protected]
luke's view
conversation with bluematt and sipa
waxwing on why UASF is required or otherwise bitcoin will be a failure https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/64sntn/the_problem_is_quite_urgent_or_why_some_uasf_does/
UASF coin is more valuable https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6cgv44/a_uasf_chain_will_be_profoundly_more_valuable/
all the links together in one place https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6dzpew/hi_its_mkwia_again_maintainer_of_uasfbitcoin_on/
p2sh was a uasf https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/v0.6.0/src/main.cpp#L1281-L1283
high fees justify the risk of uasf https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6bof7a/were_getting_to_the_point_where_a_the_cost_of_not/
bittylicious exchange supports the uasf, a big step https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6d2f46/bittylicious_exchange_supports_bip148_uasf/
committed intolerant minority https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6d7dyt/a_plea_for_rational_intolerance_extremism_and/
luke-jr's KYC poll. luke create a sybil-resistant opinion poll for issues around bitcoin scaling, including bip148 https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6mjgu8/kycpoll_sybilresistant_bitcoin_poll_using/ https://twitter.com/lukedashjr/status/884608227060703233?lang=en https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/got-coinbase-account-and-opinion-bitcoin-scaling-be-heard-kycpoll/ it showed +90% in agreement of the statement "If the economic majority supports BIP148, I will support it too" and 70% agreement to "I unconditionally support BIP148" https://luke.dashjr.org/programs/kycpoll/answers.php#bip148
heavily viral tweet "Bitcoin UASF demonstrated that users armed with code are more powerful than a billion dollar ASIC manufacturing cartel. #nodesrule" https://twitter.com/shaolinfry/status/895094737325223936
alp's thread thanking everyone https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6one5p/bip148_looks_to_be_a_total_victory_thanks_to_all/
"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." ~ Sun Tzu. The Art Of War.
The UASF had one goal and one goal only, activate segwit via BIP141 on 1st August 2017. It succeeded.
site for it, including list of businesses supporting it http://www.uasf.co/ archived here (27th august 2017) https://web.archive.org/web/20180827154339/http://www.uasf.co/
luke-jr made a poll which used coinbase.com KYCs as an entry requirement, this was the only poll of users which was resistant to sybil attacks, here are the results: https://luke.dashjr.org/programs/kycpoll/answers.php the results show that over 60% of people agreed with "I unconditionally support BIP148"
btc1 pull request for BIP91 with lots of juicy discussion, you can see in their words they are afriad of UASF, and strongly motivated by its power btc1/bitcoin#21 https://archive.is/oqFWL
james hilliard confirms that bip148 had a strong effect on miners https://twitter.com/james_hilliard/status/1024865966302191616
jgarzik annoyed at the strict timeline that segwit2x has to follow because of bip148 https://twitter.com/jgarzik/status/886605836902162432
uasf delivered the goods for bitcoin, it forced antpool and others to signal (May 2016) https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/antpool-will-not-run-segwit-without-block-size-increase-hard-fork-1464028753/ "When asked specifically whether Antpool would run SegWit code without a hard fork increase in the block size also included in a release of Bitcoin Core, Wu responded: “No. It is acceptable that the hard fork code is not activated, but it needs to be included in a ‘release’ of Bitcoin Core. I have made it clear about the definition of ‘release,’ which is not ‘public.’”"
screenshot of peter rizun capitulating https://twitter.com/chris_belcher_/status/905231603991007232
giacomo's twitter thread about the summary of the political situation, segwit2x is only to save face https://twitter.com/giacomozucco/status/876832834819944448
threat of UASF makes the miner activate segwit on litecoin https://www.reddit.com/r/litecoin/comments/66omhr/litecoin_global_roundtable_resolution/dgk2thk/?context=3
shaolinfry's summary of what happened with litecoin https://medium.com/@shaolinfry/litecoin-china-roundtable-and-uasf-40b2cdd18611
UASF activates segwit on vertcoin https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/692mi3/in_test_case_uasf_results_in_miner_consensus/dh3cm34/?context=1
Several high-profile developers were against the BIP148 UASF, yet it still happened. This shows that core developers do not control Bitcoin's rules. Bitcoin's consensus rules are controlled only by the economic consensus via full nodes.
gmaxwell against bip148 https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-April/014152.html reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/65bch8/gregory_maxwell_i_do_not_support_the_bip_148_uasf/ more reddit discussion https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6cpsz1/the_new_scaling_agreement_is_a_distraction_we/ (u/nullc is gmaxwell's reddit account)
Suhas Daftuar against bip148 https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2017-May/014377.html
core developer meeting 25th may 2017. sipa (Pieter Wuille), bluematt (Matt Collado), morcos (Alex Morcos), jtimon (Jorge Timón), gmaxwell (Greg Maxwell) DO NOT support bip148 http://www.erisian.com.au/bitcoin-core-dev/log-2017-05-25.html http://gnusha.org/bitcoin-core-dev/2017-05-25.log (Press ctrl+f and type "topic bip148")
After the meeting was over, strong words directed at luke-jr the most vocal BIP148 supporter. <sipa> luke-jr: i think you're insane <gmaxwell> luke-jr: I think you're pushing the same kind of irresponsiblity as [Bitcoin] classic did http://www.erisian.com.au/bitcoin-core-dev/log-2017-05-25.html http://gnusha.org/bitcoin-core-dev/2017-05-25.log (ctrl+f "endmeeting")
pull requests on github with lots of discussion showing the extent of core dev division: bitcoin/bitcoin#10417 bitcoin/bitcoin#10428 bitcoin/bitcoin#10442
https://twitter.com/MrHodl/status/895089909723049984
b2x is most of all about firing core https://twitter.com/WhalePanda/status/912664487135760384
https://medium.com/@StopAndDecrypt/thats-not-bitcoin-this-is-bitcoin-95f05a6fd6c2
in hindsight, the segwit2x client had a bug where it stalled 2 blocks before the actual activation https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7dky8f/segwit2x_fork_has_failed_2_blocks_before_it_was/dpyowr3/
three year old account, only started posting today https://archive.is/3STjH
good article that covers virtually all the important history https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/long-road-segwit-how-bitcoins-biggest-protocol-upgrade-became-reality/
interesting post with some history pre-2015 https://btcmanager.com/the-long-history-of-the-fight-over-scaling-bitcoin/
the core scalabality roadmap + my summary from 3/2017 https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2015-December/011865.html my summary https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5xa5fa/the_core_development_scalability_roadmap/
history from summer 2015 https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5xg7f8/the_origins_of_the_blocksize_debate/
brief reminders of the ETC situation https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6nvlgo/simple_breakdown_of_bip91_its_simply_the_miners/dkcycrz/
longer writeup of ethereum's TheDAO bailout fraud https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereumfraud/comments/6bgvqv/faq_what_exactly_is_the_fraud_in_ethereum/
point that the bigblocker side is only blocking segwit as a hostage https://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinMarkets/comments/5sqhcq/daily_discussion_wednesday_february_08_2017/ddi3ctv/?context=3
jonny1000's recall of the history of r/bitcoin https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6s34gg/rbtc_spreading_misinformation_in_rbitcoinmarkets/dl9wkfx/
jeff garzik is a fraudster who keeps representing himself as a "core developer" to scam people
gmaxwell on jgarzik https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6gadlf/not_a_single_bitcoin_core_developer_has_approved/dipi4ak/
petertodd https://twitter.com/peterktodd/status/886445807288946688
jonny1000 https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6ufv5x/a_reminder_of_some_of_jeff_garziks_greatest/
hard fork proposals from some core devs https://bitcoinhardforkresearch.github.io/
blockstream hasnt taken over the entire bitcoin core project https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/622bjp/bitcoin_core_blockstream/
blockstream is one of the good guys https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6cttkh/its_happening_blockstream_opens_liquid_sidechain/dhxu4er/
some stuff here along with that cool photoshopped poster https://medium.com/@jimmysong/bitcoin-realism-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-1mb-blocks-c191c35e74cb
nice graphic https://twitter.com/RNR_0/status/871070843698380800
gmaxwell saying how he is probably responsible for the most privacy tech in bitcoin, while mike hearn screwed up privacy https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/6azyme/hey_bu_wheres_your_testnet/dhiq3xo/?context=6
reference for some of the shady stuff mike hearn was into https://medium.com/@tradertimm/hearn-big-bank-bitcoin-bully-c61531c082e
mike hearn is a spook https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3d26tk/did_mike_hearn_work_in_sigint_does_he_now/
fairly cool propaganda poster https://twitter.com/urbanarson/status/880476631583924225
btc tankman https://i.redd.it/gxjqenzpr27z.png https://twitter.com/DanDarkPill/status/853653168151986177
asicboost discovery meme https://twitter.com/allenscottoshi/status/849888189124947971
https://twitter.com/urbanarson/status/882020516521013250
gavin wanted to kill the bitcoin chain https://twitter.com/allenscottoshi/status/849888189124947971
stuff that r/btc believes https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6ld4a5/serious_is_the_rbtc_and_the_bu_crowd_a_joke_how/djszsqu/
after segwit2x NYA got agreed all the fee pressure disappeared, laurenmt found they were artificial spam https://twitter.com/i/moments/885827802775396352
theymos saying why victory isnt inevitable https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6lmpll/explaining_why_big_blocks_are_bad/djvxv2o/
back in 2015 big blockers were open about spamming bitcoin transactions in order to help their hard fork attempt https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3a3gww/coinwalleteu_bitcoin_stress_test/
rusty russell analyses how there will be another conflict about the inflation cap https://medium.com/@rusty_lightning/the-three-economic-eras-of-bitcoin-d43bf0cf058a reddit comments https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7hnaj0/the_three_bitcoin_eras_free_subsidized_then/
with ignorant enemies like these its no wonder we won https://bitco.in/forum/threads/gold-collapsing-bitcoin-up.16/page-999 ""So, once segwit2x activates, from that moment on it will require a coordinated fork to avoid the up coming "baked in" HF. ""
belcher selling his bcash at 0.15 https://np.reddit.com/r/BitcoinMarkets/comments/6wou0x/daily_discussion_tuesday_august_29_2017/dmagjkp/
a positive effect of bcash, it made blockchain utxo spammers move away from bitcoin https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/76lv0b/cryptograffitiinfo_now_accepts_bitcoin_cash/dof38gw/
summary of craig wright, jihan wu and roger ver's positions https://medium.com/@HjalmarPeters/the-big-blockers-bead6027deb2
what happened to #oldjeffgarzik https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6ufv5x/a_reminder_of_some_of_jeff_garziks_greatest/
big blockers fully deserve to lose every last bitcoin they ever had and more https://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinMarkets/comments/756nxf/daily_discussion_monday_october_09_2017/do5ihqi/
another summary thread https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7z0ss3/always_remember_that_uasf_brought_us_segwit/
gavinandresen brainstorming how to kill bitcoin with a 51% in a nasty way https://twitter.com/btcdrak/status/843914877542567937
gavinandresen saying craig wright is satoshi https://twitter.com/Xentagz/status/992396241047867393
gavin andresen forcing p2sh into bitcoin against the opposition of luke-jr, this likely emboldened him to try the HF https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/37vg8y/is_the_blockstream_company_the_reason_why_4_core/crq86pb/?context=1 and https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/34mrtj/eli5_why_is_peter_todd_important_and_why_do_some/cqxfkdh/?context=1
meme about uasf https://twitter.com/UASF_BIP148/status/849242887003017217
brian armstrong history of being wrong https://twitter.com/MrHodl/status/1076141344836460545
BitcoinXT blacklists https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2015-August/010379.html
Mike Hearn dictator https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/5e1f4m/theymos_i_know_how_moderation_affects_people_this/da97kp6/
Core devs fired 1 https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/41aocn/httpsbitcoinorgenbitcoincorecapacityincreases_why/cz0w03x
https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/41fup9/to_core_developers_we_are_not_firing_you_we_are/cz2c02w
Reddit sockpuppets: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/41ykkt/members_trying_to_destroy_bitcoin_on_this_thread/cz6ccka?context=3
Reddit vote brigading: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3v04pd/can_we_please_have_a_civil_discussion_about/cxjnz1d?context=1
Reddit automated vote manipulation https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4biob5/research_into_instantaneous_vote_behavior_in/
Backroom dealing: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/43r3hz/views_from_the_backroom_where_the_wouldbe_fork/
GMaxwell leaving https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3x7mrr/gmaxwell_unullc_no_longer_a_bitcoin_committer_on/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3sx9k7/mikecoin_fans_succeed_in_chasing_gmaxwell_away/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3ou1im/bitcoin_core_version_0111_released/cw0v2ik/
core devs speaking about the hostile environment they're put under https://laanwj.github.io/2016/05/06/hostility-scams-and-moving-forward.html
“The rumors are true,” Chun said. “Miners in China were scared by Luke Dashjr’s proof-of-work changing pull request.” https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/f-pool-chinese-pools-will-stick-with-bitcoin-core-1453395328
Gavin is not a friend of bitcoin https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4ffhld/so_i_know_this_is_coming_from_a_biased_place_and/d28ohh8/
collection of quotes by gavin andresen https://gist.github.com/anonymous/e07eb742e8c0fe781f0d
Debate summary https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1343716.msg13701818#msg13701818
The hard work of core devs, not XT, makes bitcoin scalable. https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3hfgpo/an_initiative_to_bring_advanced_privacy_features/cu7mhw8?context=9
Core scaling roadmap https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2015-December/011865.html
fake nodes run off of AWS instances https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/499bai/51_of_bitcoin_classic_nodes_hosted_on_aws/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/45zluh/growth_in_classic_nodes_almost_completely_fake/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4jo15f/almost_half_of_the_classic_nodes_just_disappeared/ https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/4aka3f/over_3000_classic_nodes/d113ffi https://twitter.com/aaronvanw/status/710082008626634752