One does not simply change Bitcoin’s code, as the Change The Code campaign ridiculously requests.
Greenpeace USA and the Environmental Working Group (EWG), with
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An Open letter to Greenpeace about #BTC and #proofofwork
Dear @greenpeace …
— Daniel Batten (@DSBatten) March 30, 2022
The EWG is also no stranger to scare-mongering tactics and junk science. It has a long history of exaggerating concerns and cherry-picking data for its own self-interest.
Change The Code is advised by Michael Brune, the former Executive Director of the Sierra Club who resigned last year amid allegations that the organization’s culture tolerated race, gender and sexual abuses. It is unclear if the campaign’s participants actually understand how Bitcoin’s governance works and seek to intentionally misleading the public, or if they are genuinely confused and unwitting useful idiots.
The most disappointing aspect of the Change The Code campaign is not that it’s a pointless and futile attempt to attack Bitcoin while confusing the general public and the US legal system. Rather, it’s that the campaign makes it painfully obvious that organizations like Greenpeace and EWG are willing to funnel millions of dollars into moral panic and fake environmental causes that slander individuals, when that money, time and effort could be better spent on solving actual problems that could make a real difference in society. It’s campaigns like this one that leads people to lose trust in major organizations and institutions. And that, in turn, causes people to lose faith in environmental causes.
Bitcoin will not and cannot be changed by powerful individuals. Not by Ripple, not by Greenpeace, not by EWG and certainly not by the dozens of influential people Larsen attempts to target with his misinformation campaign. Bitcoin incentivizes human flourishing and abundance, and its users have no interest in changing the code.
It’s time to plug in your full node and secure your unalienable rights — we have real work to do.
This is a guest post by Level39. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.