How Transparency Helps Bitcoin
Linus Torvalds was the principal force behind the open-source project that built Linux. It’s openness means that volunteer developers from around the world can join in the project.
Linus’s Law: given enough testers and developers, problems will be found and fixed.
The result is that today Linux runs Android, the most popular operating system in the world, and also 95% of the world’s fastest supercomputers.
The code for bitcoin was released on January 2009.
On September 12, 2011, just after midnight, a user on the Bitcoin Talk Forum going by the name of “pointbiz” released code that allows a web browser to generate a Bitcoin address and private key.
Two hours later, pointbiz was congratulated by Mike Caldwell, a senior member on the forum. Caldwell made three points:
- He had found a minor bug.
- He recommended a change in the formatting of his private keys.
- He asked for a feature request so that users could generate keys offline, thus improving security.
After another two hours, Caldwell thanked pointbiz and tipped him ten bitcoin, which at the time was worth about $60. Today’s value is $4000.
The developers who built Linux volunteered because they enjoyed contributing to a great project: building secure and feature-rich software.
The same is true for bitcoin developers. Except in this case, there’s money on the line. Money to be made in the form of tips. And also money to be lost.
If a security hole is found in Linux, reputations are damaged.
If a security hole is found in Bitcoin, wallets are damaged.
