My answer

Monday, August 3rd, 2020

Why Grasberg?

That's the question many people seem to be asking these days.

At first I wasn't sure I wanted to even write this article, but then I watched something earlier tonight and I knew I no longer had a choice.

First, let me start by reminding everyone I don't hate anyone in BCH, and I stand by what I tweeted a couple months ago:

I will admit I briefly forgot that tweet even existed. Because I'd pretty much reached a point where, for all intents and purposes, I wanted a split. I thought it might be the only way for us to stop wandering, but I'm hoping maybe there's still a chance of us to do this together.

I know most of us think of Bitcoin in terms of code and numbers. We know about the 21 million hard cap, the 6.25 BCH coinbase reward, and of course, the 10-minute block time. I suspect it's because of this way of looking at Bitcoin that we all want to have a scientific answer for why we need Grasberg.

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but if that's what you're looking for, you're not going to be satisfied.

Like I said, a lot of people have been asking why Grasberg, particularly those who don't support it. On the other hand, it’s my opinion that those who do support Grasberg have yet to provide a convincing answer.

I know that for some of you your decision has already been made. It won't matter what I write, and chances are, you've already dismissed my article before you've even read it. That's fine. This article isn't meant for you, but believe me when I say it also isn't my intention to annoy you. I am merely speaking my truth, and sharing my thoughts, both with the hope that I am right, and of getting others to feel the same way.

Though I obviously can’t see the future, there's no doubt in my mind that if everyone doesn't get behind Grasberg there will definitely be a split in November. I am as sure of this as I can be sure of anything.

This in no way means I want a split. I really do want the community to stay together, but not if it means more wandering.

I know this is going to be a hard sell because this isn't as simple as 2+2=4. It's going to take some imagination, but here it goes.

For many of you the difference between ASERT and Grasberg might seem small, and in some ways it is, but for me the difference is colossal.

BCH to me has the potential to dramatically change the world. This is an opportunity to do something on the grandest of scales, and if you don't think so, I can't help but ask why are you here?

The problem is after three years, we're still barely just out of the starting gate. We've been wandering around pretending we're getting somewhere only to find ourselves hardly any closer to our destination.

As much as I love the diversity of the Bitcoin Cash community, and how we are spread all across the globe, there is no denying we are still tiny in number. For me, I'll feel like we're getting somewhere when I see our numbers grow. Not just in terms of more speculators, but people who actually want to use Bitcoin Cash, and understand it, and teach others about it. I have recently seen glimmers of hope that this is indeed happening, but we must grow that by several orders of magnitude as quickly as possible.

That we are still a top 5 coins is a miracle considering everything we’ve been through, but it’s also mostly thanks to Amaury Sechet and his team at Bitcoin ABC. They've basically been keeping us alive with little more than their wits and their determination.

You can argue the Bitcoin Cash project belongs to all of us in our own little ways, but there's no denying it belongs to Amaury more than anyone.

If that statement repulses you, I ask that you let go of your emotions and reconsider. It’s practically a quantifiable fact.

Also, in no way does my statement mean I am endorsing Amaury to be our actual dictator, and even if he wanted to, he can’t rule over us because we are all sovereign in this system. Everyone always has a choice.

What I am saying is that Amaury is most certainly the BDFL of Bitcoin ABC, and as of today, just as it’s been the case over the last three years, the BCH network is also as much his as it is anyone's.

From the very beginning this has been Anaury’s vision, his team's roadmap, and I believe it should remain that way so long as he doesn't do anything to fuck things up.

In my eyes, he has pulled off the amazing by getting us even this far considering how little help he's had and how many bozos he's had to deal with, which includes me at one point.

If you don't trust me, if you think I'm blowing smoke, I urge you to watch Joannes Vermorel's presentation from the 2020 Bitcoin Cash Conference livestream. Johannes is the CEO of Lokad, a software company specializing in supply chain. Lokad employs 50 people, but in addition to that Joannes also has another business where he evaluates start-ups by focusing on their code, and he has nothing but praise for Amaury and Bitcoin ABC.

If you don't trust my judgement because I lack the technical expertise, I suggest you trust Joannes, because based on everything I've seen in the last three years, there is no one who can even compare with Amaury when it comes to being the best leader for this project.

Is Grasberg a power move?

Yes, of course it is, but it's not a power move just for the sake of power.

Grasberg is Amaury's vision, and though I can't read his mind, I can see why he wants to do it. There's an elegance to it. At this point, Bitcoin Cash is as much Amaury's project as it is Satoshi's, and for Amaury, the drift is a blemish.

I don't think anyone can deny that the chain being many months ahead of its intended emission schedule is a mistake. If Satoshi could have come up with a better DAA that would have kept drift to an absolute minimum, I'm sure he would have.

But now we have a chance to fix it, all while fixing the DAA at the same time, and it would be an absolute mistake if we don't.

We would also simultaneously be saying BCH is no longer Amaury's project because it will have fallen into the hands of the mob. At that point is Amaury supposed to slave away for the sake of the mob? Are we a community that suddenly believes in from each according to his ability, to each according to his need?

If Amaury gives in he would be saying the mob's opinion is more important than his own. Because that's what this boils down to, people’s opinions.

Your opinion might be that having 11 minute blocks until we fix the drift is a bad idea. But the fact is it doesn't break anything, not really. You just don't like it for various reasons we've all heard already.

In contrast, Amaury's opinion is that he wants to fix the historical drift, and there are many of us who agree.

Grasberg also has the added benefit that it will temporarily decrease inflation over the next five years. For a collection of people who claim to be against central banks, you sure do love your inflation.

Maybe you're worried this will mean less hash on the network making us more susceptible to a 51% attack. If that's the case, you are acting from a position of weakness and fear.

Have BTC miners ever attempted to reorg BCH once in the last three years? We've had extended periods of time where our hash was less than 1% of the total Sha256 hash across all forks, and we regularly get blocks hours apart as it is. Will 11 minute blocks for a few years really make that much of a difference?

In my opinion, I suspect a clear cut signal that BCH is moving forward with Grasberg will actually lead to an ultimate increase in price, which will in turn lead to an increase in hash.

I commend Jonathan Toomin, and Mark Lundeberg, and everyone else who contributed in all the discussions and all the work that went into creating this new DAA. And I know Amaury does too because I've seen him on video acknowledging their work. Because it's true, the Grasberg DAA isn't just his work alone, it was made possible by the work of many.

Finally, at the beginning of this article I mentioned I watched something that made me realize I had no choice but to write this. What I watched was a video that explains how Amaury came up with the name Grasberg. I'm going to link it below, and I hope you watch it because I think it can help you understand. There were about 10 different moments during the 51 minute documentary that blew my mind as I made various connections between the story of Grasberg and the story of BCH.

We have until the August 15 freeze date to come to a decision. I know that there will be some who can't be convinced, but I hope that over the next 12 days we can reach consensus that Grasberg is the best and only choice at this point.

One last thing.

I know what I say in this last section will be perceived as a personal attack, but I only say this out of a desire to help the situation for all involved, not to embarrass or humiliate, and if I have said some things in the past that could be construed as being hurtful, I apologize.

While watching the Grasberg documentary it opened my eyes, and I felt like for the first time I could see what Amaury was seeing. Maybe it was just chance that he stumbled upon this documentary, a moment of serendipity, but the fact that he could even make the connection is evidence to me that he is the leader that we need. Not to rule over us, but to guide us, because BCH still has a long way to go.

And if you think this is like Core, you need to check your premises. BCH is about freedom. We are all free to sell our coins, to leave the community, to mine another chain.

Another observation I had was while watching the DAA meetings. I couldn't help but feel like everyone was interested in Amaury's opinion more than any other. Even when they think his opinion doesn't make sense, it felt like they wanted him to explain it to them because they knew it was possible he saw something they didn't.

By comparison, the lead dev who briefly worked with Amaury at the start of BCH doesn't strike me as a leader I desire. I'm sorry, but that's just how I feel. For example, after reading my previous article, an article I wrote mostly for my own amusement, he angrily commented he would no longer be sponsoring me and was unsubscribing from my account. The sponsorship he was referring to was a monthly sponsorship of $0.13 a month. That's $1.56 a year. What kind of leader behaves that way?

I'm not trying to shame him, that's not the purpose of the previous paragraph. The purpose is to help our community grow and fix our culture.

It's impossible for me to know what your goals are as a member of this community, but my goal is this: to help Bitcoin ABC finish what Satoshi only started, and make Bitcoin Cash: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system.

Thanks for reading.

"Rules?" said Roark. "Here are my rules: what can be done with one substance must never be done with another. No two materials are alike. No two sites on earth are alike. No two buildings have the same purpose. The purpose, the site, the material determine the shape. Nothing can be reasonable or beautiful unless it’s made by one central idea, and the idea sets every detail. A building is alive, like a man. Its integrity is to follow its own truth, its one single theme, and to serve its own single purpose. A man doesn’t borrow pieces of his body. A building doesn’t borrow hunks of its soul. Its maker gives it the soul and every wall, window and stairway to express it."

...

"How do you propose to force your ideas on them?"

"I don’t propose to force or be forced. Those who want me will come to me."