Reddit's /r/btc Reaches 100,000+ Subscribers in a Victory for Censorship Resistance

Decentralization is a tool to attain censorship resistance. The more avenues for debate, the better. Bitcoiners around the world depend on forums such as the popular Reddit.com bulletin board for candid, behind the headlines examination. In a year of striking all-time-highs, the subreddit /r/btc reached 100,000 subscribers this week. The ecosystem should celebrate the scrappy communication channel’s achievement, especially in the wake of campaigns to effectively shut it down.

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First mover advantages are darn-near everything when it comes to branding. Folks are creatures of habit, and when they imprint upon a source they tend to return to it. And so it has been a bit of an uphill battle for the two-year-old forum, /r/btc, to establish itself as a reliable source for Bitcoin-related crypto topics and information.

“Congratulations to the sub and the brilliant people here,” a subscriber enthused. “A shout out to the competent redditors, who day in day out reply with knowledge and patience to frequent trolls. I joined this sub, when there was approx 12.000 members and it has since become my favorite. This is the revolution and Bitcoin Cash is Bitcoin,” the subscriber said, ending with a contentious phrase known to get banned elsewhere.

Reddit is an aggregator, and it curates the web basically through ratings and discussion. Text, links, images, and votes are its main currencies. Subreddits run the gamut of fringe and funky topics, and bitcoin and crypto are often hot ones. It ranks 8th in the world in website traffic. The site has been around for more than a decade, and is an independent division of Condé Nast Publications.

Another subscriber remarked, “Back when this subreddit was the rebel subreddit of 5k subs I never imagined this was how things were going to play out. I’m so happy we’re such a large number to fight this unreasonable situation.”

This Unreasonable Situation

One sub-redditor winked: “Just remember one thing, although one might feel the urge to retaliate and upset others, abstain and keep in mind that progress is done by being reasonable and ignoring those who instigate otherwise. Respect others no matter how wrong their opinions or motives might be (cough-cough, Bitcoin Core, cough-cough).”

The passively eluded-to controversy has to do with accusations of Machiavellian hacks by a rival forum to trigger moderated crackdowns on /r/btc. It’s worth reading to draw your own conclusions, but it’s a bizarre coincidence at best.

A moderator explained weeks prior: “Although we may not be absolutely impervious to attacks I believe we’ve kept to our core principles of free speech and have provided a safe censorship-free environment here for anyone to partake in, from any side of the argument.”

The kerfuffle goes back to before /r/btc even existed, as detailed by last year’s brief history of the goings-on, also worth reading for those curious about the debate.

Upward, Onward!

/r/btc is more than just inside-controversies. It’s rather joyful, and has perspectives not found elsewhere, from famous pizza reenactments using BCH, to valiant fundraising efforts to help North Korean refugees.

Again, draw your own conclusions. Read everything you’re inclined. Take it all in. But also be happy there’s a viable, thriving alternative.

Tell us what you think in the comments below about your favorite Reddit forums.

Images courtesy of Pixabay, Reddit.

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