We do not hold vast amounts of Bitcoins and have a vested interest in their increasing value, to the exclusion of other currencies, like the core Bitcoin developers
In my view there is some truth in the leading part of that statement, ie. that the Bitcoin foundation may be considered to be partly Bitcoin-blinkered and there are causes for concern around conflict of interest.
Most recent example: Jon at the Bitcoin Foundation explained that his failure to get an ISO4217 code from SIX Interbank Clearing in Switzerland was because they said such requests must come from an existing, recognized national bank. That means a UN-approved nation with an ISO code, and the central bank thereof. Which central bank worth its salt is going to stick its next out to hasten challengers to national currency? Even if one did, they may come up with another excuse: the criteria for codepoint acquisition do not appear to be publicly available. So I put X-ISO4217-A3, a proposal for a registry of IANA-managed, non ISO-approved currency-like commodities with nominally ISO4217 compatible codepoints as such has been the community's habit for new cryptocurrencies. Well, you'd think they would have some positive outlook on such a development - but instead they did nothing. When hastened they simply said "we'll wait for the ISO to suddenly approve XBT". I think that's a clear demonstration of Bitcoin-centrism, and it's not a good thing for the broader community. I think IANA or a for-purpose blockchain should get involved as a registrar to keep things open and transparent, ASAP.
Well done on this article, I think we need more of these posts that draw community attention to the big picture.
bitcoin is obviously a great system, but to just accept it as the next financial system is missing the larger point with cryptocurrencies: they are a significant step in the evolution of banking, an industry that has traditionally been very slow-moving and centralized. accepting a new system where the developers, who essentially replace the central bankers, are a small group who wield substantial power and can act without a wide consensus seems like a step backwards after taking a step forwards.
In my view there is some truth in the leading part of that statement, ie. that the Bitcoin foundation may be considered to be partly Bitcoin-blinkered and there are causes for concern around conflict of interest.
Most recent example: Jon at the Bitcoin Foundation explained that his failure to get an ISO4217 code from SIX Interbank Clearing in Switzerland was because they said such requests must come from an existing, recognized national bank. That means a UN-approved nation with an ISO code, and the central bank thereof. Which central bank worth its salt is going to stick its next out to hasten challengers to national currency? Even if one did, they may come up with another excuse: the criteria for codepoint acquisition do not appear to be publicly available. So I put X-ISO4217-A3, a proposal for a registry of IANA-managed, non ISO-approved currency-like commodities with nominally ISO4217 compatible codepoints as such has been the community's habit for new cryptocurrencies. Well, you'd think they would have some positive outlook on such a development - but instead they did nothing. When hastened they simply said "we'll wait for the ISO to suddenly approve XBT". I think that's a clear demonstration of Bitcoin-centrism, and it's not a good thing for the broader community. I think IANA or a for-purpose blockchain should get involved as a registrar to keep things open and transparent, ASAP.
Well done on this article, I think we need more of these posts that draw community attention to the big picture.