The Most Impressive Thing in Bitcoin’s Success Is the Incredible Work of Its Developer Community
By: Sylvain Saurel
Tags: Open Source, Blockchain, Programming, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin

The Most Impressive Thing in Bitcoin’s Success Is the Incredible Work of Its Developer Community

Take time to think about it for five minutes.

Everyone knows that Satoshi Nakamoto is the creator of Bitcoin. Even people who are not interested in Bitcoin have already heard the name, Satoshi Nakamoto. The reason for this is simple: no one really knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is.

The mystery surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity is something that has always served the interests of Bitcoin.

It has prevented governments from attacking him or her to harm Bitcoin. Without a leader to sue, Bitcoin is much more resilient than systems with a single leader. Satoshi Nakamoto understood this perfectly.

Satoshi Nakamoto offered his or her unique invention to all the inhabitants of the Earth

That is why Satoshi Nakamoto decided to stay away by offering his unique invention in the history of mankind to all the inhabitants of the Earth. Bitcoin is a magnificent gift that can change the history of mankind, but its success depends entirely on its users.

If we know that Satoshi Nakamoto finalized the creation of Bitcoin at the end of 2018, we do not know if he or she worked alone. Nor do we know if there is an entity behind this mysterious pseudonym.

In any case, Bitcoin was officially launched on January 3, 2009.

Cypherpunks from all over the world came to test this open-source electronic payment system which was announced as revolutionary.

The code of Bitcoin being open source, more and more developers then came to join the Bitcoin community to contribute to this software capable of changing the world of the future in terms of money.

Bitcoin is an awesome store of value

Many people realize that Bitcoin is here to stay in 2020.

Attitudes are changing, and Bitcoin is increasingly seen for what it really is in 2020: the best possible store of value. Bitcoin allows you to protect your money over time in a way that is resistant to censorship.

While Bitcoin is often described as a digital version of gold, it is actually objectively superior to gold in many areas. Bitcoin is accessible to the greatest number of people. All you need is a smartphone and an Internet connection to buy Bitcoin.

With its exceptional divisibility, you can buy Bitcoin so regardless of your fiat money wealth. Gold is totally outdated.

Every day, hundreds of developers give their time and intelligence to keep Bitcoin a success. I feel that many people underestimate how exceptional the Bitcoin developer community is.

The importance of its developer community in the success of Bitcoin is underestimated

The success of Bitcoin is largely due to some of the most talented developers in the world.

Well aware of the importance of their mission, they sacrifice everything so that Bitcoin remains a success. If Bitcoin has never been hacked since its creation, it is thanks to them. If Bitcoin has an uptime of 99.985% since its launch, it owes it to its developers.

Of course, Satoshi Nakamoto is the one who started it all. He or she is the person who created a unique invention that is Bitcoin.

However, it was then all those extraordinary developers in the Bitcoin community who made sure that Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention progressed over time, respecting the spirit of its creator.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin has a market cap of $210 billion. The success of Bitcoin is incredible when you consider that it has never received financial support from private investment banks or governments.

The 10,634 full nodes currently present on the Bitcoin network can guarantee the security of the Bitcoin network thanks to the work of the developers from the Bitcoin community :

Most impressive is the way Bitcoin’s developers collaborate

The success of the developers in the Bitcoin community is all the more impressive because all development work is done collaboratively around the world without any leaders imposing their vision.

Imagine Apple developing the software code for its iPhones in a public way, taking into account thousands of development proposals from all over the world.

All this without financial support and a single leader. Consensus should be the rule to adopt network evolutions. I don’t think Apple is in a position to do that. This is something that only a project with the great ambition of Bitcoin can achieve.

Bitcoin is a true democracy at all levels.

Anyone can become a Bitcoin network developer and contribute to the building that is going to revolutionize the world of the future when it comes to money. All written source code is published in open source. Everything is decentralized even at the development level of the Bitcoin Blockchain.

This allows more people to contribute, and it also makes it easier to detect possible bugs.

Bitcoin evolves at the pace at which it must evolve to guarantee the security of the network

Some criticize Bitcoin saying that it does not evolve fast enough. These people do not understand that Bitcoin evolves at the rate it needs to evolve to keep the network safe.

The slightest bug introduced on the network in production by overhasty production could have disastrous consequences.

Billions of dollars could be lost, but even worse, trust in the Bitcoin network could be lost. The Bitcoin revolution, and especially the better future world that this revolution is trying to build block by block, would be threatened.

Under these circumstances, you can better understand why it is essential that Bitcoin evolves at the pace it needs to evolve. The stakes are too high at all levels.

Conclusion

Next time you buy Bitcoin or think about Bitcoin, remember to think about its community of developers who are at the heart of the phenomenal success of this project. Even better, if you wish to contribute directly to Bitcoin Core, I invite you to visit the official website of the organization:

Whether you are a developer or not, you will see that there are many different ways to contribute to Bitcoin and participate in building a better world for the future.

It’s up to you because Bitcoin needs you as much as you need it.