Book Club Series: The Blocksize War (Austin Software Cooperatives) Part 6

## Book Club Series: The Blocksize War (Austin Software Cooperatives) Part 6

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.