Claiming to be exhausted and stressed, Wladimir van der Laan resigned from his role as a Bitcoin developer after eight years. The developer was the second successor to Satoshi Nakamoto, with Gavin Andresen between the two. So far, no new name has been mentioned to take on the role.
Van der Laan’s desire to leave Bitcoin had already been reported by himself in January this year, where he used words similar to Nakamoto’s when leaving the project, citing a move towards “other interests”.
In the same post, the developer cites that he felt like a “centralized bottleneck” for Bitcoin development, showing his willingness to see the protocol even more decentralized.
Wladimir van de Laan leave Bitcoin
Taking over as Bitcoin developer in April 2014, when BTC was in the $400s after a big drop, Wladimir van de Laan was the longest-serving developer in that role, surpassing Gavin Andresen and Satoshi Nakamoto.
It’s hard to credit all of his contributions, as van der Laan has been improving the protocol daily with updates, revisions, bug fixes, and more for the past eight years.
Thus, the developer himself mentioned being exhausted and stressed with the role, leaving his position free for the next one, without mentioning who his successor will be.
“It Is Not A Thing! I’m A Bit Burned Out, It’s Stressful And I’m Tired Of The Same Arguments, The Same Problems. Long Ago! I’ve Changed, The World Has Changed And I Feel Like It’s Time For Something Else.”
In response to another tweet, accusing another developer of introducing a bug on purpose, in 2016, van der Laan points out that this is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to find new contributors to the project.
“This Is One Of The Reasons Why It Is So Hard To Find Developers Willing To Contribute To Bitcoin Core, Sometimes The Expectations Are Unreasonable And Inhumane, There Is No Other Industry Where You Get Personally Criticized For Mistakes A Decade Ago.”
Added to this, we can mention the low salaries of these developers compared to professionals of the same level, after all, they depend on donations. Also, it should be remembered that van der Laan was sued by Craig Wright, a man claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto.
No successor in sight
Finally, Wladimir van der Laan does not mention who will be the successor who will take over the Bitcoin code after his departure. This could be a suggestion for the project to become even less dependent on a central person and to abandon the bitcoincore.org website, looking for a more decentralized solution that cannot be removed with a few clicks.
Although unrelated to the Tornado Cash case, where its developer was arrested and the project massacred, van der Laan’s departure comes at a unique moment in history, where the community fights against censorship and in defense of freedom.
Meanwhile, a Brazilian project called Vinteum, started this month, seeks to help Bitcoin developers in Latin America. Therefore, we can expect Bitcoin to continue to evolve, without losing its essence.
