Latest Bitcoin Bug is a Big Deal as Occurrence Creates Community Conflicts

Bitcoin Cash developer Awemany informed Bitcoin Core developers about a bug affecting Bitcoin Core (BTC) and its network. This is why BTC developers urged nodes to implement a recently updated patch back on Friday. The bug is known as CVE-2018-17144 and was found on September 17.

The discovery of the bug has created several conflicts in the Bitcoin Core community. There are several individuals that are calling BTC developers inefficient and incompetent. The bug was reported as a potential denial of service bug. However, developers found something behind that.

Apparently, it originated after attempts of changing the way in which unspent transactions are tracked. This change created vulnerabilities in Bitcoin versions .15X and .16.2. At the same time, other altcoins that forked form Bitcoin at that time and were using the code have the bug.

However, the developer that fixed the bug was the same that implanted it, something that generated controversies in the community.

The code couldn’t be discovered for over a period of two years. This raised concerns about other bugs that Bitcoin may have. Awemany explained that he could have used this bug on his behalf, but he reported it to the Core team.

Developers did not know how to properly address the situation and solve the issue. Cryptocurrencies promise decentralization and transparency. But this situation shows that some projects are totally dependent from the decisions that just a small group can take.

With this episode, it is possible to change how the community should address these issues and how developers should work together to solve these kinds of challenges.