2 short months ago, Bitcoin Cash was born out of the fires of the chaotic Bitcoin scaling debate, with the Bitcoin ABC software spearheading the charge.

Although we stand united with the other teams in Bitcoin Cash, each project must have its own leadership, its own goals, and its own way of doing things.

With this in mind, I’ll share a few of our thoughts about Bitcoin ABC. Where did we come from, and where are we going?

Past: Journey of an Engineer

I’m a network engineer by trade. I’ve worked with European software startups, Japanese markets, and Internet adoption in Africa, just to name a few.

In 2010, I heard about Bitcoin and discovered Satoshi’s genius solution to the double spend problem using an economic, rather than a mathematical solution. For a long time, I followed Bitcoin development, but wasn’t super involved. I decided to take matter into my own hands when the scaling debate started degenerating.

Present: Birth of ABC and Bitcoin Cash

The “UASF” campaign sparked a revolt. If people were going to split, we had to have our side of the split ready. The idea was in the air and the idea of a big block fork was born out of several factions, including Bitmain’s contingency plan, Bitcoin Unlimited’s BUIP055, and the btcforks project. Freetrader and I worked together to create Bitcoin ABC and Bitcoin Cash was born.

The last 2 months has been a learning experience for me, and I realize that success will not come merely from good ideas or good coding. It is necessary to build solid organizations.

Future: Success Depends on People

Teams that accomplish great things have certain characteristics. Articulating them will likely help attract the kind of people we want, and will help us focus on what actually matters.

We asked ourselves one question: “What kind of people do we want working on Bitcoin ABC?” And here is what we came up with: 6 Key Values

1. Visionary - We see billions of people using Bitcoin and we will help make it happen.

2. Focus - We’re focused, tenacious, goal-oriented, and we get things done.

3. Ruthless Prioritization - We work on high impact projects, objectives, and tasks.

4. Excellence - We’re constantly pushing ourselves and others to improve, and pushing the boundaries to find better solutions.

5. Clear Personable Communication - We speak directly and honestly, and take the time to listen.

6. Great Attitude - We are dedicated, open-minded, self-aware, enthusiastic, cooperative people with a good sense of humor.

These are ideals that we strive for. As humans, we’ll never be perfect. The biggest thing I need to work on myself is communication. I admit that at times, I’ve been less than “personable”, and I’m committed to improving this.