Is it possible that Jihan Wu, Roger Ver and others are hoping to criminalize the Bitcoin BCH blockchain through the DSV OP_Code? While it may seem like just a wild theory, Dr. Craig Wright, chief scientist of nChain, points out some interesting facts that are quite convincing.
Wright provides an analogy of the criminality of child porn. He demonstrates that a host who only publishes child pornography isn’t liable, unless they know they are hosting the content, intentionally or otherwise. He explains, “The protections granted to Freedom in hosting as a mere publisher vanishes as soon as they receive notification. If they receive a warning and do nothing, they lose all protection. A Site that has been taken offline and then proceeds to make the illegal data accessible again is guilty of a crime.”
DSV, or the OP_CHECKDATASIG, would introduce new parameters to the Bitcoin BCH blockchain that would allow Bitcoin to be used anonymously, as well as for criminal activity. It undermines the very concept of digital currency and jeopardizes the legitimacy of the Bitcoin BCH network as an alternative to fiat.
Bitcoin Core, when it was first developed, was meant to be a currency that favored privacy, but not anonymity. Cryptocurrency was never meant to be anonymous. The only way to have a viable digital currency that is accepted by regulators is if it adheres to certain legal guidelines – anonymity is not one of these.
As Wright puts it, “To throw out the legal protections is to give away the freedoms we have. The push to add constructs into Bitcoin that are designed solely for this is not just bad, it is immoral.” DSV will allow for completely anonymous transactions, undermining all of the work that has gone into creating a strong, valuable and global peer-to-peer digital currency.
A DSV transaction, by its own definition and nature, allows a user to knowingly and willingly conduct an illegal transaction. The recipient also becomes the receiver of illegal property. Since the transaction occurred over the Bitcoin BCH blockchain, the network has become a complicit partner.
Wright asserts, “Others may want to make Bitcoin “better” for criminals, terrorists and to help in it promoting Child Porn and violence.” If this is the goal of Ver and Wu, perhaps they should form their own cryptocurrency. Their actions are not only bad for Bitcoin BCH, but for society, as well.
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