Video - Bitcoin Q and A Scaling is a moving target

Scaling solutions, advantages and disadvantages. I won't take a position on scaling options for a simple reason: I think we will do all of them. SegWit, second layer implements like Lightning Network, increasing the base block size with 4-8 Mb of capacity, Schnorr signatures, Spoonnet.

Scaling is not something that is solved once; scaling is a moving target, an aspiration. As you achieve each level of scale, that opens the door for new applications; solving current problems creates the opportunity for new problems. The internet has been failing to scale for 25 years.

Email, image attachments, audio, video, high-definition video, livestreaming, holographic virtual reality, etc. We have a system that allows for global transactions, without borders, a level of planetary scale immutability. As soon as we make it faster and cheaper, people will want to put _more_ data on the blockchain.

We will reach Visa scale and then surpass Visa scale on an exponential curve. We can never "fix" scaling. All we can do is hope to continue to fail to scale gracefully. Solutions that are technically sensible, maintainable, and don't violate the core principles of decentralisation. We can change the rules as often as we like, but we should not appoint rulers.

TRANSCRIPT

Written by Andreas M. Antonopoulos on June 15, 2017.