Background to the Rules
Background to the Rules
A. BSV Association (the ‘Association’ or ‘we’, ‘our’, or ‘us’) is a non-profit organisation based in Switzerland. Our goals are to support the operation of the Network and foster the growth of the Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (‘Bitcoin’, ‘Bitcoin SV’, or ‘BSV’) ecosystem. We aim to achieve this by protecting and supporting the vision of ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ in the paper ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’ published on 31 October 2008 (the ‘Bitcoin White Paper’), ensuring the Bitcoin Protocol remains ‘set in stone’, offering educational resources, research, and information, as well as by establishing a regulation-friendly ecosystem that encourages honest behaviour, nurtures digital currency, and facilitates blockchain innovation.
B. In the Bitcoin White Paper, the public was offered the opportunity to obtain up to 20,999,050 electronic coins in the aggregate if they abided by certain rules, including those set out in the Bitcoin White Paper (the ‘Unilateral Contract’).
C. Participants in the Bitcoin SV ecosystem support adherence to the Bitcoin Protocol and the terms of the Unilateral Contract and seek to maintain the vision in the Bitcoin White Paper.
D. While the Association provides stewardship of the Network, it is the responsibility of those persons who conduct Network Activities from time to time, whether individually or collectively (each a ‘Node’), to promote and maintain honest and lawful behaviour in line with the Bitcoin White Paper’s vision. ‘Network Activities’ means collecting, validating, or accepting a block, collecting transactions into a block, attempting to find a proof-of-work for a block, or broadcasting a block.
E. To achieve the Bitcoin White Paper’s vision, a common framework with clear standards and practices for Nodes is essential. This framework, embodied in the Rules, enables legal recourse between Nodes if a Node has breached the Rules. The Rules also enable the Association to take legal and technical actions, such as sending informational messages alerting Nodes to breaches of the Rules, so as to support the ecosystem in counteracting unlawful and dishonest behaviour on the Network. Our goal is to exercise all of our rights, powers, and discretions under the Rules in a way that promotes the stability of the Bitcoin Protocol over time.
F. We have therefore published the Rules, which build upon and supersede the Unilateral Contract, to offer the users of the Network increased legal certainty, confidence, and security and to protect the long-term growth and success of the Network. By conducting any Relevant Activities (including any Network Activities), a Node agrees to be bound by the Rules.
G. We also offer licences for using the Node Software (the ‘Node Software Licence’), the full terms of which may be found here. The Association recognises the vital role of software, especially secure open-source types, in optimising the Network’s functionality and Node compliance with the Rules, and supports innovative software development by Nodes, both independently and in collaboration. If a Node uses the Node Software or takes advantage of the Node Software Licence, it has also agreed to be bound by the Rules.
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