
Why I’m short Ethereum (and long Bitcoin) - wille92
https://medium.com/@tuurdemeester/why-im-short-ethereum-and-long-bitcoin-aee5b1c198fd#.ur8y92bs7
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apeace
The essential points underlying the overall argument are:

1) A more powerful programming language in the blockchain carries greater risk
of bugs which could take down all nodes in the network, 2) multiple
implementations are a bad idea, and 3) hard forks are a bad idea.

Problem #1 has the most merit. Ethereum's implementation may not be the
winner, but _someday_ there will be a block chain which has a powerful
programming language. Just because it is hard to get right, doesn't mean it's
a bad idea.

Regarding problem #2 (multiple implementations), I'm astounded that so many
agree with this, as it simply doesn't make any sense. The more implementations
there are, the less risk there is that any one problem will take down the
entire network. Others have written about this [0]. If anything, the problem
is that 90% of the Ethereum network is running Geth today. The more diversity
the better.

Problem #3 (hard forks) has also been addressed by others [1]. Without even
addressing whether hard-forks are appropriate for certain situations, I think
if you agree that soft-forks are appropriate but hard-folks aren't, you
fundamentally misunderstand what a "soft-fork" is and what can be done with
one. See [1] for more info.

[0] [https://blog.conformal.com/the-bitcoin-consensus-red-
herring...](https://blog.conformal.com/the-bitcoin-consensus-red-herring/)

[1] [https://medium.com/@octskyward/on-consensus-and-
forks-c6a050...](https://medium.com/@octskyward/on-consensus-and-
forks-c6a050c792e7#.4gb2sf21h)

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kylebenzle
Great article! But, until we have a turning complete decentralized machine
someone will be working toward that goal. So it may not be Ethereum across the
finish line (not today's ethereum) but until there is a better pony to bet on
I don't see anyone else as far along as Vitalik et al.

