Book Club Series: The Blocksize War (Austin Software Cooperatives) Part 10

## Book Club Series: *The Blocksize War* (Austin Software Cooperatives) Part 10 **We’re kicking off a multi‑part reading group on *The Blocksize War***—a narrative of the 2015–2017 fight over Bitcoin’s blocksize and the deeper question of **who gets to change rules in a decentralized system**. We’ll use the story as a springboard to explore **protocol governance, incentives, credible commitment, soft‑ vs hard‑fork dynamics, user coordination (UASF), and “exit vs. voice”**—with applied takeaways for cooperative organizations. **Focus:** governance lessons, not price or trading. ### What we’ll cover \*\*\ *Who governs a system with no boss? \*\*Nodes, miners, devs, exchanges, users—and what “consensus” really means. \*\ *\*Mechanism design & change control: \*\*Soft forks vs. hard forks, signaling, activation thresholds, the role of credible exit. \*\*\ *Power and legitimacy: \*\*Why “coalitions” (e.g., NYA) aren’t the same as consensus; why simple rules beat back‑room deals. \*\ *\*Operational tradeoffs: \*\*Throughput vs. decentralization; client diversity; backward compatibility. \*\*\ *Co‑op parallels: \*\*Consent‑based changes, transparency rituals, and how to avoid “Fiat” control returning through process complexity. ### Schedule (First Wednesdays) -\*\ *Session 1 — Wed, Nov 5, 2025\*\*\* Origins & Fault Lines (2009–2015)*: Throughput vs. decentralization; early “big‑block” proposals; why blocksize became a governance lever.**Session 2 — Wed, Dec 3, 2025*** 2016: The Great Schism: SegWit design goals, miner signaling, exchanges, and “agreements” vs. actual consensus. ***Session 3 — Wed, Jan 7, 2026*** 2017: UASF to Resolution*: BIP‑level coordination, user activation, SegWit2x’s collapse, and the BCH split—lessons on credible commitment and collective action. ***Session 4 — Wed, Feb 4, 2026*** Aftermath & Lessons for Co‑ops\*: What decentralized governance got right and wrong; translating principles into cooperative bylaws, comp, and decision rights. ### Who should attend Engineers, product folks, co‑op builders, protocol‑curious organizers, and anyone interested in **change management without a traditional hierarchy**. ### Prep *Get a copy of\* **The Blocksize War**\ *(any edition). \***Session 1 reading:** Preface + early chapters on scaling debates and blocksize proposals. \*Bring **1–2 questions** you want answered about decentralized change control (e.g., “How do we prevent a tiny group from pushing risky changes?”). ### Details \*\*\* When:\*\* First Wednesday of the month starting **Nov 5, 2025**, **7:00–8:15 PM Central (CT)** \*\*\*Where: \*\*Zoom (link sent to RSVPs day‑of) or in‑person if announced \*\*\* Code of conduct: \*\*Be civil; critique ideas, not people. No investment advice. ### Why this matters for co‑ops The blocksize saga is a rare, well‑documented case of\*\* large‑scale, boss‑less coordination under pressure\*\*. It shows how\*\* clear rules, credible user action, and transparent signaling **can beat power plays—insight you can apply to** bylaws, compensation changes, product governance, and member rights \*\*in your cooperative. \*\*RSVP to save your seat. \*\*Questions you want covered? Drop them in the event comments so we can prioritize them.