Former bitcoin (BTC) maintainer and developer Wladimir Jasper van der Laan has reportedly had his access to the Bitcoin Core GitHub repository removed.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Van der Laan voluntarily gave up his access to bitcoin client software on February 16 after being at the helm for more than nine years.
Second successor to Satoshi Nakamoto
Van der Laan had spent the last two years trying to move away from his role as maintainer, citing exhaustion, health problems and “constant bizarre fights on social media”.
As the second successor to the mysterious inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, he was one of the few people to have final commit access to the Bitcoin Core GitHub repository.
Nakamoto first owned this admin key and later transferred it to Gavin Andresen. When Andresen, who received direct instructions from Nakamoto on maintaining the bitcoin code, resigned from the project nine years ago, Van der Laan took over.
Van der Laan has played the leading role in maintaining all aspects of Bitcoin’s development for even longer than Satoshi. He led all operations related to bug fixes, code reviews, upgrades, software maintenance, and dispute resolution.
However the wsj report indicates that already in January 2021, Van der Laan announced that he would reduce his participation in the management of the largest cryptocurrency in the world.
Van der Laan now becomes the third maintainer to leave his Bitcoin Core role in the last 18 months.
In December 2021, Bitcoin Core maintainer Samuel Dobson announced his resignation to finish his PhD. program. Dobson worked on the project’s crypto wallet and ensured the security of the protocol.
Dobson’s departure followed that of Jonas Schnelli, who left in October 2021, citing the stress of increasing legal risks for developers.
Only Five Bitcoin Core Maintainers Left
With Van der Laan’s departure, Bitcoin development will now be led by five people: Hennadii Stepanov, Michael Ford, Andrew Chow, Marko Falke, and Gloria Zhao.
Each is responsible for one aspect of Bitcoin; for example, Stepanov maintains the network’s graphical user interface, while Ford oversees the build system.
Gloria Zhao, the only woman on the maintainer team, writes and reviews the code that governs the Bitcoin transaction validation process. Andrew Chow is in charge of programming crypto wallets, which allow investors to store their bitcoins, while Marco Falke focuses on testing.
Together, these encoders keep Bitcoin’s digital ledger up to date on the thousands of computers on their network. They need to make sure that the software remains compatible with the latest versions of operating systems like Windows or MacOS and that it keeps up with transaction volumes.
Many of the cryptocurrency’s defenders claim that its current value and future potential are partly in the hands of these maintainers.
