why doesn't BTC/blockstream change difficulty adjustments to avoid difficulty 'bomb'?
This would require a hardfork and thus require everyone in the BTC ecosystem to agree to swap to the new consensus rules. Blockstream has spent years blocking hardforks. Wont happen.
I agree they've spend a long time blocking hardforks but I worry they have the BTC ecosystem wrapped around their finger & can change the ecosystem sentiment on a whim.
I actually don't see it as such. It may be an unpopular view but I feel the anti—hf is deeply imbedded into the BTC community.
I say this as someone who gets BTC community sentiment through r/bitcoin which is wholly manipulated. So I dont think I (or maybe anyone) can judge BTC comm sentiment well.
Said another way “follow blockstream” is a stronger meme than “no more hardforks”
If the chain freezes I think it will happen.
If the chain freezes the panic sellers will kill the chain before a fork can reach consensus. Remember each exchange and merchant also has to adopt the new consensus rules.
