Paul Sztorc is one of the most controversial figures in Bitcoin—and he’s about to pull off one of his most controversial moves of all: a full-blown Bitcoin hardfork.

Actuating his vision of “e-cash,” as the new protocol is called, Paul is pushing forward a new Drivechains-enabled Bitcoin experience—citing governance challenges and a “broken soft fork process” as reasons for the move.

“If BIP300/301 was activated in Bitcoin, we would stop,” says Paul Sztorc—adding, “it’s an irony that the soft fork was invented because the hard fork was too difficult.”

In this interview, I asked Paul all the difficult questions you can imagine—and ultimately found myself sympathizing with much of his defense.

Regardless of one’s personal politics, this interview sheds light on the challenges we face in Bitcoin governance as a whole—and may be worth reviewing to better understand the political statement (ne—political artwork?) that Paul’s work represents.

In this episode, Paul shares:

• Why he’s making the bold move to hard fork — and the various levels of risk he’s assuming in the process.
• His frustration with the Bitcoin soft fork process and why, regardless of the risks, it “may be time to reconsider the hard fork.”
• Why the Drivechains vision (BIP300/301) is one worth fighting for, and why the payments use-case must be actuated to fulfill Satoshi’s vision
• The problem with Bitcoin’s “decel” culture, and why the lack of competition may be the root of the problem.

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• LayerTwo Labs — developing research, software and technologies for scaling Bitcoin via the integration of Drivechains (BIP 300/301)
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