In light of Bitcoin XT’s fail to gain universal acceptance and the exit of its developer Mike Hearn from the core group, users discuss the perspective of other core developers’ quitting.

On the Reddit forum bitcoin users continue to exchange opinions on the block size debate and the consequences for the whole system if Greg Maxwell, Pieter Wuille and Wladimir van der Laan decide to quit as well.

A vast group of bitcoin users argues that further exit of developers won’t be a major loss for the bitcoin sphere. By their aspiration to introduce changes at all costs those developers violate the whole philosophy of the bitcoin system. The users argue that bitcoin development has as its main task the accomplishment of users’ needs. Therefore it is for users to decide whether the time has come to change the direction or not.

Some users remind that overall work of the bitcoin economy is based on trust towards the system and not towards the developers’ team, adding that the main condition underpinning the system's success is network consensus. Besides, users indirectly accuse developers of pursuing their own aims when they try to introduce any fundamental changes to blockchain design. That’s why, despite any negative consequences of the core developers’ exit, the whole system may benefit from it, they assume.

However, other users see the potential exit of developers as a great loss, since they are all experienced and skilled cryptographers who make sure the system is functioning from top to bottom. The supporters claim that the majority of bitcoin owners are not aware enough of how things work at the back end of the bitcoin network, and therefore cannot properly calculate the consequences when voting for this or that decision.

CoinFox has covered the exit of Mike Hearn and a variety of proposals for bitcoin improvement that have been recently voiced.

Anna Lavinskaya