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#witness-update

My position on the soft fork - I am not running the changes on my witness node

TimCliff@timcliff (74)2375d

A super-majority of the top witnesses have decided to proceed with a change to limit the use of the accounts belonging to Steemit, Inc. (which have been acquired by Tron as part of the purchase of Steemit, Inc.) To find out more about this, please read this post.

The decision to support the changes (or not) has weighed heavily on many witnesses including myself, and a lot of very healthy and productive conversation has taken place between many of the witnesses and Steem's stakeholders.

I fully acknowledge and appreciate the severity of the situation, and fully understand why the witnesses running this software have chosen to do so. Personally however, I have chosen NOT to apply the changes to my witness node.

Regardless of the messy situation that got us here, and the very real security risk that Tron currently poses to our chain - I see them as a stakeholder who acquired their stake through a legitimate over-the-counter purchase, and I am not OK forcing restrictions on the way a stakeholder uses their stake.

Note: From a technical perspective, this will have no impact on the restrictions put in place by the other witnesses. I am a single witness, and by myself I am not able to overthrow the will of a super-majority consensus (by design).

Despite the fact that I am not applying these changes to my node, I do support the overall mission that the top witnesses and community/stakeholders are trying to achieve: Finding a way for Steem to progress in a way where the security of our governance and blockchain is not under the constant threat of a single stakeholder.

In my view, there are really two paths forward:

  1. We find a way to work with Tron and come up with a mutually acceptable plan that allows Tron to keep and use their stake in a way that is acceptable to the community and stakeholders, and puts an end to the "ninja mine" dysfunction that has plagued Steem since day one.
  2. We create a fork of Steem (similar to Ethereum vs Ethereum Classic) in a way that voids out the ninja mined stake (or does something with it such as funding the DAO) and we let Tron proceed with the chain they have full control of, and we proceed with a new chain without them.

I am really hoping that we can find a way to achieve #1, because I truly believe that there is more potential for both Steem and Tron to be successful if we work together towards mutually beneficial goals. For the time being I see that as the best path forward, and I will continue to work towards that end.

Comments · 32

  • @rentmoney(77)· 2369d

    Despite the fact that I am not applying these changes to my node, I do support the overall mission that the top witnesses and community/stakeholders are trying to achieve: Finding a way for Steem to progress in a way where the security of our governance and blockchain is not under the constant threat of a single stakeholder.

    Hi @timcliff,

    Isn't there already one or two stake holders in which hold a large say on who gets to be a top witnesses?

    Regardless of that, I share your views. I think its going to be tough getting any big investors to take a look at STEEM due to this decision.

    You have just become the 4th witnesses in which I vote for.

  • @quillfire(62)· 2372d

    @timcliuff,

    I am astonished by what I've been reading on "Justification Posts" for the softfork.

    For years, Top 20 Witnesses not only supported bidbots, they owned and operated them. Vote buying and selling, the very dictionary definition of corruption in any system predicated upon voting.

    • "Well, everyone has a right to vote their stake."

    Along comes @justinsunsteemit who buys out Steemit Inc. ... and all of a sudden he's not allowed to vote his stake!? So what if the Top 20 Witnesses don't like his ideas? So what if he shuts down some of their pet projects?

    That would just be him "voting his stake."

    None of the Top 20 Witnesses took or take any heed of the army of voices screaming bloody murder about their self-serving tactics but we're all supposed to care when they are now, potentially, on the receiving end.

    None of this matters.

    If @justinsunsteemit decides to take legal action, which I would encourage him to do, any judge on the planet would call this Theft and Extortion. I ran a hedge fund for 20 years and am extremely familiar with securities law. Any Witness who voted for this abomination is very likely going to jail. It's that black and white.

    Here's a suggestion: The Top 20 Witnesses need to IMMEDIATELY consult an attorney ... something they should have done BEFORE undertaking this asinine caper.

    Irrespective of what Justin decides to do, the Top 20 Witnesses just waived a huge red flag in front of the SEC practically daring them to intervene. The SEC will not require a complaint from Justin to open an investigation (and yes, the SEC will easily be able to assert U.S. jurisdiction).

    Tim, as per usual, you're the one Top 20 Witness that manages to show some restraint and common sense.

    Note to all Steemians: Because of Tim's non-support for the softfork, he's likely to drop out of the Top 20 Witnesses if he hasn't already. If you haven't voted for him already, do so now.

    Quill

  • @carapthian(46)· 2374d

    Reading this, I just found my fourth witness to vote for. Since I joined Steem(it) I have been reading messages and looking for people who are worthy witnesses. Somebody who dares to challenge the common opinion and stands up for his opinion is somebody who will help to challenge and with that impact the balance of Power. My vote is yours. And to the rest of the community I would urge you to give Justin a chance. To get this platform into mainstream, it should become easier to familiarize yourself with it.

  • @mikepm74(67)· 2374d

    I've been dormant but checking on things every now and then for I suppose about a year at this point.

    The question that occurs to me regarding this Soft Fork is:

    We've seen how readily Justin spends money on things. Should he try to use his stake to vote in witnesses who will fall in line and this fork goes in to effect to "lock out" his stake, what is to keep him from going to the exchanges and buying every STEEM token out there to build a "legitimate stake" outside of the stake that is locked out.

    I have no idea how much Steem is currently on exchanges, but I have to imagine it would be a drop in the bucket for him to buy it all and power it up. Would this be enough to cancel out the intent of this soft fork?

  • @neddykelly(59)· 2374d

    Hi @timcliff firstly I think your #2 option is plane ludicrous. I mean come on mate we all know what's going to happen everyone will abandon the tron steem chain for the new one it's not rocket science.

    With that said let's re hash on option 1. Coming up with a mutual agreement with somebody who just purchased neds stake.. I mean yeah sure in a perfect world but unfortunately business is business and at the end of the day tron and Mr sun give no shit about you or your witness title.

  • @nascimentoab(64)· 2374d

    "This is a digression. May the force will be with you." 😎

  • @aagabriel(68)· 2374d

    Appreciate your position but I have no faith in Tron doing anything except chewing up the juicy bits of STEEM blockchain and then spitting out the gristle left over for the maggots to munch on.

  • @arcange(79)· 2374d

    Congratulations @timcliff! Your post was mentioned in the Steem Hit Parade in the following categories:

    • Comments - Ranked 7 with 72 comments
    • Pending payout - Ranked 7 with $ 50,1
  • @happyphoenix(69)· 2374d

    Saya sudah mempercayakan suara saya kepada anda sebagai seorang witness sudah sejak tahun akhir tahun 2016. Saya berharap agar anda bisa mewakili suara saya yaitu tetap mempertahankan blockchain Steem dalam keadaan independen dan desentralisasi.

    Secara garis besar saya setuju dengan apa yang anda gagas dan tulis di sini, dan saya sangat menghargai itu, semoga para witness lainnya bisa mengikuti langkah anda.

    Secara garis besar, saya memahami pemikiran anda dan saya juga sependapat, bagaimanapun juga saya tetap taruh dan percayakan harapan saya kepada anda.

    I have entrusted my voice to you as a witness since the end of 2016. I hope that you can represent my voice, which is to keep the Steem blockchain in an independent and decentralized state.

    Broadly speaking, I agree with what you have in mind and write here, and I really appreciate it, hopefully the other witnesses can follow your lead.

    I general, I understand your thoughts and I also agree, however I still put and trust my hopes to you.

  • @gadrian(76)· 2374d

    I don't agree with this either.

  • @steem-ua(64)· 2374d

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  • @prameshtyagi(71)· 2374d

    Agree with your stand. Below is my take and proposal to handle similar crises in future

    https://www.actnearn.com/actnearn/@prameshtyagi/my-take-on-soft-fork-0-22-2

  • @liberosist(72)· 2374d

    Well said, I agree with you on most counts. Full respect for sticking with your core principles, it must take plenty courage for a top witness to go against the popular vote.

  • @freebornangel(72)· 2374d

    Good standing up, Tim.

    Dissent is important. #nedstrikesagain

  • @bil.prag(76)· 2374d

    voted for you just because you were ready to stand to what you believe. i am not sure where i stand on this, but the thing i know is that his lack of communication is disrespectful to the steem community.

  • @coininstant(69)· 2374d

    These witnesses are thieves!

  • @whatsup(76)· 2374d

    Thanks Tim, this is sicking.

    With zero evidence he had any intent to do anything to harm Steem we have greeted him with hostility.

    Sad day

  • @lordbutterfly(80)· 2374d

    I see them as a stakeholder who acquired their stake through a legitimate over-the-counter purchase, and I am not OK forcing restrictions on the way a stakeholder uses their stake.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_of_stolen_goods

    Figure out the analogy. Theres nothing legitimate about the ninjamine stake. It remains as it was.

  • @enginewitty(78)· 2374d

    You earned a solid long-standing witness vote from me reading this man.

  • @valued-customer(75)· 2374d

    I believe there is another option. I'd appreciate your consideration of the proposal.

    You retain my witness vote, and if I could I'd up the weight, because it takes courage of conviction to oppose a supermajority.

    Thanks!

  • @marki99(62)· 2374d

    I think it's time to admit that dPOS is not decentralized. There are witnesses which make decisions, and people who vote those witnesses.

    It is like politics. If the leaders (witnesses) make a decision with consensus then it is by design a good one, a decentralized one.

    If you are looking for decentralization like Bitcoin's, you're not going to find it in a dPOS blockchain.

    Is that bad? I don't think so. I believe it's a great governance model.

  • @atma.love(71)· 2374d

    Thanks for your statement @timcliff

    PLEASE investigate the Matrix-8 Multi-Level Governance Platform to be, as a potential system of governance for Steem. You can begin to find out about it here: https://steempeak.com/naturalmedicine/@atma.love/why

    Namaste Atma

  • @reddust(72)· 2374d

    I hope the soft-fork isn't taken as a threat by Tron but brings them to the table to talk to help build Steem (edit) that you all have worked so hard to bring into reality. I remember so many times a hard-fork was made out of fear and didn't go so well for the eco-system but the whales did very well. I am hoping this soft-fork turns out differently and Tron and Steemit work together and make Steemit a great ecosystem. If not, hard-fork it is, I will go with Steemit.

  • @lukestokes(77)· 2374d

    Thank you for sticking to your principles, Tim. This was one of the hardest decisions I've had to make as a witness. Depending on how the owner of the property responds, I will adjust accordingly. Ultimately, to me, this is property we're talking about. We've acknowledged a lien in place on that property enforced by social contract. That may not sound like much (it's certainly not legally binding, as far as I know), but when it comes to blockchains, consensus is everything.

  • @diazrock(58)· 2375d

    This is a very reasonable and valid position, but are you not afraid of the decision that could be made by the account owner, which in fact is different, and maybe don't want to respect the social contract made by Ned about those accounts?

  • @joeyarnoldvn(68)· 2375d

    I agree and hope we can work with Tron like you said.

  • @mightypanda(64)· 2375d

    and u lost a miniscule witness vote.

  • @holoz0r(78)· 2375d

    Regardless of the messy situation that got us here, and the very real security risk that Tron currently poses to our chain - I see them as a stakeholder who acquired their stake through a legitimate over-the-counter purchase, and I am not OK forcing restrictions on the way a stakeholder uses their stake.

    I agree, especially when this is no different to a bank freezing the accounts of a client because they don't like what they do with their money, or the type of legitimate business activity they conduct.

    (There's many examples of Australian banks shutting down the commerical / business acounts of Australian cryptocurrency exchanges), and this "Freezing of the funds" which the super majority has agreed to amounts to exactly this type of behaviour, and in my view cannot be supported on a blockchain that is by definition meant to be for the use of all stakeholders and their stake.

  • @cryptocurator(65)· 2375d

    Thanks for this communication Tim, have always respected your views. I am surprised by the news contained within this post, I think it is a very rash decision by other witnesses.

    Posted using Partiko iOS

  • @bryan-imhoff(69)· 2375d

    Has there been any discussion about simply decreasing the number of witness votes per account? I feel a hardfork of that nature would be the simplest way to immediately decentralize Steem further and lift undue restrictions on the Steemit Inc. stake.

  • @abh12345(80)· 2375d

    Appreciate your stance Tim, as well as the overall consensus being what it is.

  • @witnessnews(2)· 2375d

    This post has been resteemed by @witnessnews.

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