Name: Book Club Series: The Blocksize War (Austin Software Cooperatives)
Start: 2025-11-05T19:00:00-06:00
End: 2025-11-05T20:00:00-06:00

## Book Club Series: *The Blocksize War* (Austin Software Cooperatives)

**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.

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