The Ship of Theseus Paradox and the Identity of Bitcoin: A Philosophical Discussion on Protocol Upgrades and Forks

Abstract

This study investigates the application of the Ship of Theseus paradox to the process of protocol upgrades and forks in Bitcoin, analyzing its impact on Bitcoin's identity. As a decentralized digital asset, the evolution of Bitcoin's core protocol and its hard fork events, such as the creation of Bitcoin Cash (BCH), have sparked a profound philosophical debate concerning "what constitutes the true Bitcoin." Through a comparative analysis of the technical characteristics, community consensus, and market performance of different forked chains, this research explores the extent to which protocol changes lead to a transformation of the system's essence. The study considers the influence of technical variables (e.g., block size, consensus mechanism), social variables (e.g., developer and miner stances), and market variables (e.g., price and market capitalization) on Bitcoin's identity. We attempt to establish a generalizable model to explain the dynamics of identity change in decentralized systems. The findings of this research will contribute to a deeper understanding of the nature of cryptocurrencies and provide philosophical and practical insights for the governance and evolution of future blockchain protocols.