Bitcoin (BTC) HODLers Urged to Review its Code More Often

The news of a software bug being found in the codebase of Bitcoin might have gone unnoticed by many crypto enthusiasts last week. Many conspiracy theories have been put forth as to why the news was not popularized by mainstream media in a manner similar or equal to how the Bitcoin ETF standoff at the SEC has been reported. However, the fact remains that there was a critical bug that was found and fixed without much of the crypto-community knowing about it.

The Bug

The full disclosure on the bug was made on the Bitcoin Core website and it stated the following:

CVE-2018-17144, a fix for which was released on September 18th in Bitcoin Core versions 0.16.3 and 0.17.0rc4, includes both a Denial of Service component and a critical inflation vulnerability. It was originally reported to several developers working on Bitcoin Core, as well as projects supporting other cryptocurrencies, including ABC and Unlimited on September 17th as a Denial of Service bug only, however we quickly determined that the issue was also an inflation vulnerability with the same root cause and fix.

Grounds for Panic in the Markets

We all need to remember the after shocks when there was a software bug on the Verge codebase that had one malicious miner minting XVG out of thin air. The hack happened back in mid May and the digital asset is yet to recover in the markets due to this event.

Therefore, the bug found on the Bitcoin code was grounds for a catastrophic panic selling event; but this did not happen.

A Call to Review the Bitcoin Code

While searching for news on the bug found on the Bitcoin code, Ethereum World News came across a very interesting tweet from Pierre Rochard: a software engineer who also runs BitcoinAdvisory.com.

His tweet called for each BTC holder to take ownership of the Bitcoin Code review:

Every Bitcoin holder that has the means to do so or Bitcoin business that is profitable should take full ownership of Bitcoin code review, whether it’s by performing code reviews themselves or hiring devs to do it for them. Frankly, no excuses not to.

He also added that the Bitcoin core project is very welcoming to new contributors and reviewers.

Bitcoin is only trustless if you trust the code. The only way to trust the code is to work with it. The Bitcoin Core software project is very welcoming to new contributors, new reviewers, and – if you’re up for the challenge – new maintainers.

His full tweet can be found below.

Bitcoin is only trustless if you trust the code. The only way to trust the code is to work with it. The Bitcoin Core software project is very welcoming to new contributors, new reviewers, and – if you’re up for the challenge – new maintainers. https://t.co/tiRZygOLnk https://t.co/h0izj5eRFS

— Pierre Rochard (@pierre_rochard) September 24, 2018

Summing it up, the King of Crypto was faced by a critical event last week in the form of a bug that was instantly fixed. Thankfully, the crypto market did not overreact to the situation but questions still linger if there is more to it. As a result, Bitcoin holders have been called upon to take ownership of their investment by reviewing the code more often.

What do you think of the BTC bug that went about unnoticed last week? Do you agree that every BTC holder should ‘chip in’ by reviewing the code more often or even joining the Bitcoin Core software project? Please let us know in the comment section below. 

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.