As the stakes get higher and increasingly larger players make their positions public it will be truly interesting to watch how the narratives unfold.

The amount of public or soft influence that these economically significant players have over the network is yet to be seen. https://twitter.com/BitMEXResearch/status/1306277928716697608

Is it really that crazy that a significant amount of this "smart money" would be in favor of something we now consider fringe, like premature ossification or smaller block sizes?

Being a large enough player gives you a seat at the table, both through public signaling and by exercising soft power by funding developers, for example.

The fork wars and block size debate will seem like child's play compared to the stakes and narratives that will be at play when Bitcoin's governance is challenged once again.

While rough consensus has its merits, there is room for a lack of transparency over who influences decisions in development beyond public signaling.

A lot can be decided behind closed doors, which could disproportionately benefit a specific group of stakeholders.

Smart money interests may seemingly initially align with retail, "number go up" makes all holders wealthier.

But other decisions that could be more controversial, like the examples mentioned earlier in this thread, could purposefully push traffic (and fees) on to Layer 2's.

If you were an economically significant node, would you not be incentivised to try and influence outcomes in a way that guarantees increased revenue generation through Layer 2 fees?

While a lot of people are quick to criticize #Decred's focus on governance and self-funding, transparency has been at the front and center in the way that systems like Politea, consensus voting and the soon-to-be decentralised treasury have been designed.

There is no room for VCs or other entities to pull strings behind the scenes: developers are only accountable to stakeholders.

If smart money wants to influence the network, they need to get skin in the game and vote or GTFO.