Subject: Re: [Bitcoin-development] Coinbase reallocation to discourage Finney attacks

From: Justus Ranvier <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2014 17:07:34 +0000

On 04/24/2014 03:37 PM, Jorge Timón wrote:

The 21 million bitcoin limit is not important because of its exact
value, nor is it important because Satoshi picked it.

The 21 million limit is important because users hold bitcoin based on
the promise that the block reward will never be adjusted ex post
facto. The behavior users are relying on is "The bitcoins you hold are
forever a calculable fraction of all the bitcoins that will ever be
issued."

That's what bitcoin holders agreed to, and that's what can never be
changed.

The fact that the number is arbitrary is not relevant. We can agree to
meet for lunch at some arbitrarily chosen time, and the fact that the
time was chosen arbitrary in no way means that one party arbitrarily
choosing not to show up doesn't break the agreement.

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