Bitcoin Sees Synchronized Community-Led Supply Audit

Following an agreement made between Blockstream CSO Samson Mow and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in August, the last couple of weeks saw multiple Bitcoin enthusiasts complete an independent audit of the bitcoin supply.

These included the likes of Bull Bitcoin founder Francis Pouliot, anonymous dev “Bit Dov,” and Jameson Lopp, co-founder and CTO of Casa, who added that it took just “1.5 minutes” on his machine to verify the supply of Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin community members are waiting for a similar supply audit for the Ethereum blockchain.

Ethereum has, so far, instilled no upper limit on its maximum token supply - with the values varying depending on which block explorer is used. A reason for this, as given by  Buterin at the time, was that the lack of a supply cap prevented the network from having a “guaranteed level of blockchain security.”

However, in an appearance on Peter McCormack’s What Bitcoin Did podcast in August, Buterin accepted the supply audit challenge proposed Mow to fully and independently audit Ethereum’s supply simultaneously with the community-led Bitcoin supply audit. So far, the Ethereum numbers appear to be missing.

Although the event had no formal terms set, Mow said many Bitcoin users running full nodes would take part in the “largest synchronized audit” on September 23rd (later revised to September 26th to take place at block 650,000). 

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Shaurya Malwa

Shaurya mined his first bitcoin in 2012, which spiked his interest. Working full-time in the crypto space since 2017, he holds a degree in economics and is learning how to fly planes.