Bitcoin 2014 : Annual State of the Bitcoin Address

To start off the afternoon of day 1 at BItcoin 2014, we are treated to the Annual State of the Bitcoin Address by Mr. Gavin Andresen. Very curious whether he will have any good or bad news for us this time.

14:00 In case you were wondering whether or not there will be more delays this afternoon, the answer is : does it really matter? This is all about meeting new people and quality Bitcoin time.

Gavin is really excited about the fact it’s not raining today!

We are still early adopters, even though Bitcoin has been around for quite some time. We are at the beginning of something that’s getting bigger and bigger.

You can compare Bitcoin to the beginning of the internet. Even though we should try to forget February, which was a very bad month for Bitcoin. Mt. Gox is being referenced to prove Bitcoin’s stability and how strong this currency really is, because we all want it to succeed.

Bitcoin Core

We have a new core maintainer (title is borrowed from Linux). Mr Andresen used to be a BitcoinTalk forum moderator and used to run the Bitcoin press mailing list. He is a man of many , many hats.

The future of Bitcoin is his sole priority now. Corey Fields is now working on Bitcoin Core full time. He will make the Mac builds so that these do not need to be compiled anymore, which is a major advancement.

Transactions need to be processed as widely as possible. But there are Bitcoin Core changes coming. Bitcoin code used to be Windows only, but over time, as the developers got a better grasp of the code, we have witnessed the evolution of Bitcoin.

Some features might actually be dropped from the bitcoind client, such as the “accounts” feature. More updates regarding these changes will follow.

In order to build the Bitcoin binaries, which we all download,  they are compiled on different virtual machines, to make sure they are identical. The GitHub source codes corresponds to the code you are downloading.  

Communication

There is no good forum to have discussions about Bitcoin development. Forums are good until they get popular.Somebody has to step up and solve this everlasting issue.

Multi-signature wallet is planned . Privacy is improving, thanks to dark wallets. Increasing privacy is a major part of the future. Hardware wallets are definitely something to keep your eye on as well. Bitcoin is maturing after its full implementation.

How do we get to multiple implementations for Bitcoin? It will be a long struggle, but the consensus is that we will get through it.

Mining

Mining affects user’s experience. The amount of transactions put into 1 block is a worry for the team. Block sizes aren’t rising despite more transactions, which is somewhat of a mystery. Technical work needs to be done to optimize the blocks on the network.

We are getting pretty close to each block being 1 megabyte, which will in turn increase the transaction cost. DIfferent avenues are being explored in order to tackle this issue before it becomes an actual problem. It would be great to have multiple solutions.

Mining ASICS today

We see the formation of mining farms, but that situation will likely turn around. USB miners aren’t out of the picture just yet, as they are cheaper and easy to use.

Writing secure code is hard

You won’t know whether your code is secure until it protects something that’s actually valuable. First Bitcoin version was very insecure, which was only noticed when the value increased and it became worth your while to attack.

Identity/Reputation is hard

Trusting a piece of code is one thing, but having to trust a person or an entire system is a different ball game. Dark marketplaces are a good example of how ugly things can get in the blink of an eye.

Becoming mainstream is really hard

Bitcoin, like segways, are cool, but far from mainstream, even though that was the picture we were painted years ago. Just because you can, doesn’t make everyone will.  Bitcoin remains a niche market for now, but it might take off at any moment.

Bitcoin in 2015

Bitcoin will be bigger, more secure and more diverse. Wallets will be looking better with a  polished UI and multi-signature features. We hope to see Bitcoin become more mainstream, and as a result, there will most likely be more regulation through infrastructure.

Hopefully, the price will be less volatile, which might be futile hope.