Open Source vs. Source-Available: What the Coldcard Failure Teaches About Bitcoin Software Incentives
Bitcoin Magazine
Open Source vs. Source-Available: What the Coldcard Failure Teaches About Bitcoin Software Incentives
Closed versus Open Source code has divided the Bitcoin and broader crypto industry for well over a decade. Bitcoin advocates have long argued that the financial infrastructure of the world should be built in public. Transparency and auditability, they say, are non-negotiable when real money is at stake. Yet the app and legacy layers of finance often disagree.
Yet the recent Coldcard hack, a popular self-custody hardware wallet where users lost over $100 million worth of bitcoin (more than 1,500 BTC), cast doubt over what “Open Source” actually means. It revealed that perhaps most people, even many hardcore bitcoiners, are poorly educated on the Open Source software development philosophy and when it fails.
The Principles and Terminology
The language around Open Source can be complicated. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) refer to software that meets formal definitions of user freedom.
… Continue reading the full article at the original source below.
