Bitcoin maximalist falsehood #3: “Bitcoin is trustless.”
Bitcoin does not eliminate trust. It reduces and redistributes it. Users still depend on software, hardware, developers, miners and the social consensus that determines which rules constitute Bitcoin.
That social consensus is Bitcoin’s greatest attack surface. Code cannot decide its own purpose or determine which future version deserves the name Bitcoin. People do.
This is Bitcoin’s politics. Core developers, miners and influencers exert significant influence over what Bitcoin is and what it may become. Defending Bitcoin against capture requires a broad network of well informed users who can examine proposals, choose their own software and reject changes they do not support.
“Don’t trust, verify” is empty if users do not understand what they are verifying or have no practical choice when they disagree.