Doceasye's avatar
Doceasye 3 months ago
BTC vs Knots research with AI 🧑‍💻 1. “One dev” argument cuts both ways Satoshi was literally one anonymous dev when Bitcoin started. But the difference is what happened next: over time, the project attracted dozens of contributors, peer review, and eventually became much less centralized. Knots today is closer to that “one dev” stage. It’s mostly Luke maintaining patches on top of Core. If more contributors joined, reviewed, and audited, it could evolve into something broader — but it hasn’t yet. So you’re right: the argument can be mirrored. The difference is trajectory: Core → went from one dev → decentralized stewardship. Knots → still one main dev → much less peer review. --- 🔒 2. Why “one dev” matters more now In 2009, Bitcoin wasn’t worth anything. Risk of sabotage was low. In 2025, Bitcoin secures hundreds of billions of dollars. The attack surface and incentives are massive. That’s why the community is much less comfortable with single-maintainer projects. Peer review = security. --- ⚖️ 3. Neutral vs opinionated Bitcoin Core tries to be neutral: if a transaction pays fees and fits the rules, it goes in. Knots reflects Luke’s personal philosophy: some uses are “spam,” even if they fit consensus rules. Neutrality is easier to defend against “one dev bias” because Core changes must survive broad scrutiny. Knots doesn’t have that filter — it’s literally Luke deciding. --- ✅ Bottom line You can absolutely use the “Bitcoin started with one dev” point in a debate, but you’ve got the comeback built in: Satoshi → spawned a community, project became decentralized. Knots → still centralized around one dev, hasn’t gone through that decentralizing process. That’s the key difference between trusting Core vs trusting Knots.

Replies (1)

1st, This is first and formost false information. It's not just luke. see: 2nd, you entirely miss the point and make this about who develops the software, but this is myopic and irrelevant. Bitcoin works by node runners/miners deciding what software to run. Every node implementation can propose their own version and node runners will decide whether to upgrade or switch. That is true for bitcoin knots as well as soon as luke does something node runners disagree with. The bitcoin community is wealthy enough to fund new developers if necessary. Thus, the steward is the bitcoin network or community at large, including bitcoin users too - and the great thing is that it is anonymously large so not prone to group think. There is no need for another layer of stewardship of tiny group of software developers. Core takes themselves way too important. Bitcoin is global and bitcoin is massive - this is much larger than the Blockstream company and always was - thinking otherwise is imho hybris to say the least.