Bitcoin Core From the Inside | Jon Atack | BIS #195

About this episode

Jon Atack discusses his insider experience as a Bitcoin Core contributor and the cultural shifts within the project.

Jon Atack joins the Bitcoin Infinity Show to talk about his years-long insider experience as a Bitcoin Core contributor, revealing how DEI-influenced selection criteria, centralized developer pipelines at Chaincode Labs, and social power dynamics reshaped the culture of Bitcoin's most important open source project. The conversation covers how hand-picked developers were fast-tracked while independent contributors struggled for funding, why the OP_RETURN controversy was the culmination of years of eroding trust, and Jon's case for why Bitcoin needs multiple competing implementations to restore meritocracy and decentralization. Jon also shares the untold story of how he helped Knut rewrite his first Bitcoin book but had to remove his name due to fear of political backlash from potential funders. Connect with Jon: https://x.com/jonatack Link to Jon's presentation: https://x.com/jonatack/status/2017635523905442197 Connect with Us: https://www.bitcoininfinityshow.com/ https://bitcoininfinitystore.com https://primal.net/infinity https://primal.net/knut https://primal.net/luke https://twitter.com/BtcInfinityShow https://twitter.com/knutsvanholm https://twitter.com/lukedewolf Thanks to…

People in this episode

Hosts: Knut Svanholm, Luke de Wolf

Guest: Jon Atack

Topics covered

• Bitcoin Core
• open source
• developer culture
• meritocracy
• decentralization
• funding
• trust

Keywords

• Bitcoin Core
• open source project
• developer pipelines
• DEI
• OP_RETURN controversy
• funding
• meritocracy

Sponsors

Bull Bitcoin, BitVault, BitBox, Bitcoin Adviser

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Chaincode Labs, Bitcoin

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