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Who Really Controls Bitcoin? | Bitcoin Mechanic episode artwork

May 26, 2026 1 hr 32 min

Who Really Controls Bitcoin? | Bitcoin Mechanic

from What Bitcoin Did

“Whoever blinks first wins.” Mechanic joins me to discuss the controversial BIP110 proposal, the fight over spam and inscriptions, and whether Bitcoin users can force a consensus change without support from the major mining pools. We get into miner power, node enforcement, UASF game theory, soft forks, and whether Bitcoin is drifting away from its original purpose as money. Mechanic argues that Bitcoin’s strength comes from ordinary users enforcing the rules, not corporations, exchanges, or miners. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: ANCHORWATCH BLOCKWARE LEDN BITKEY SWAN CAPE FOLLOW: Danny Knowles: https://x.com/_DannyKnowles or https://primal.net/danny Bitcoin Mechanic: https://x.com/GrassFedBitcoin

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Who Really Controls Bitcoin? | Bitcoin Mechanic

0:00 1:32:20

Chapters

  1. 0:00 Bitcoin's greatest strength and current neglect
  2. 1:02 Why advocate for Bit110 now
  3. 4:40 Bit110 activation timeline and miner signaling
  4. 12:25 Bitcoin as currency vs payment network
  5. 22:50 Low fees and dwindling economic activity
  6. 31:36 Centralized mining and the need for spam filters
  7. 39:41 What Bit110 restricts in Taproot
  8. 45:00 Pragmatism vs principles in soft fork activation
  9. 59:20 Game theory of soft fork enforcement and chain splits
  10. 1:12:20 Miner profitability and the nuclear option
  11. 1:21:20 Personal impact if Bit110 fails

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This episode is 1 hour and 32 minutes long.

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This episode was published on May 26, 2026.

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