The Bitcoin Blocksize War

A book that records in detail the entire process of the Bitcoin blocksize debate.

· 2min

This book reads like a political thriller, except it’s all true. Between 2015 and 2017, Bitcoin nearly tore itself apart over a question that sounds painfully boring: how big should a block be? Jonathan Bier turns this seemingly technical debate into a gripping narrative about power, ideology, and who really controls the most important monetary network on Earth.

The Battle for Bitcoin’s Soul

On one side: major companies like Coinbase, BitPay, and mining giant Bitmain, all pushing to increase the block size so Bitcoin could handle more transactions. On the other: a loose coalition of developers, node operators, and everyday users who argued that bigger blocks would centralize the network and destroy the very thing that made Bitcoin valuable. It wasn’t really about block sizes at all. It was about whether Bitcoin would become a corporate-friendly payment network or remain a decentralized, censorship-resistant store of value.

The turning point came when ordinary node operators launched the User Activated Soft Fork (UASF) — a grassroots revolt that proved miners and corporations don’t actually control Bitcoin. Users do. The SegWit upgrade activated, the big-block faction forked off to create Bitcoin Cash, and the rest is history. BCH’s slow decline relative to Bitcoin told the market everything it needed to know about which vision won.

Why It Matters

If you’ve ever wondered whether Bitcoin’s decentralized governance is real or just a talking point, this book settles the question. It’s the definitive case study of how a leaderless network defended itself against a coordinated corporate takeover — and the essential context for evaluating any future protocol debate.