Microsoft’s Buchner: Bitmain “Has Zero Clue” About Decentralization

Microsoft’s Head of Decentralized Identity Daniel Buchner has said Bitmain “has (zero) clue what decentralization means” in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

In a series of eight tweets highlighting a section of the pro-Bitcoin Unlimited miner’s blog post on a Bitcoin hard fork, Buchner said the material “reveals” its lack of understanding of the core principle.

“Dissecting the section of Bitmain’s latest post where they reveal they have 0 clue what decentralization means within this ecosystem,” he wrote.

1/ Dissecting the section of Bitmain’s latest post where they reveal they have 0 clue what decentralization means within this ecosystem: pic.twitter.com/BXoH6VY4JN — Daniel Ƀ (@csuwildcat) June 15, 2017

Subsequent comments explained Buchner’s criticisms in more detail.

Bitmain’s claim that the large number of people “using Bitcoin as a saving currency and payment network” has nothing to do with decentralization, he says, using an analogy with fiat currency, credit card networks and PayPal.

“…Hundreds of thousands of people, apps, and services use PayPal - this doesn’t mean PayPal is a decentralized payment network,” he wrote.

The Microsoft figure is known for his UASF support and has previously come out against the plans for Bitcoin put forward by Bitcoin Unlimited advocates.

A raft of commentators has risen to defend UASF following Bitmain’s post, with businesses such as Bitsquare especially active in decrying the detrimental effect on the network.