If I understand correctly, Satoshi Nakamoto (or any cryptocurrency creator) can change things in Bitcoin, like supply limit, halving, etc. My question is: How is Bitcoin decentralized if Satoshi Nakamoto can change anything in Bitcoin protocol? What if suddenly Satoshi Nakamoto changes Bitcoin so miners receive 100 times more rewards. How can I, as a Bitcoin user, prevent this to happen?
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Bitcoin is open source. – Prince M Apr 04 '21 at 06:43
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@PrinceM but still there are a group of developers to maintain the code, right? What if they decide to change the code? – Francisco Linan Apr 04 '21 at 07:16
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No one would download it! – Prince M Apr 04 '21 at 14:18
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Related: How exactly are Bitcoin's consensus rules enforced? – Murch Apr 04 '21 at 19:06
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If I understand correctly, Satoshi Nakamoto (or any cryptocurrency creator) can change things in Bitcoin
You have exactly the same ability to do these things as Satoshi Nakamoto.
By doing those things you would create a fork of Bitcoin. Just like many other forks.
How can I, as a Bitcoin user, prevent this to happen?
You can ignore the fork and carry on using Bitcoin software that does not implement the changes you dislike.
This is what has happened to several forks of Bitcoin. This is why there are so-called "altcoins". You will note that the majority of cryptocurrency users adhere to the "old" rules.
Those "old" rules have also had improvements (e.g. Segwit) that have proved acceptable to the majority and seen widespread adoption. So the rules are not exactly "old", they are continually under review and the wider community does see and comment on suggested improvements. It would be more accurate to call them "mainstream" rules.
RedGrittyBrick
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Everyone has the code of Bitcoin and run it on their own computer.People believe it and run it.Satoshi can't change anything on the block unless he has the 51% hashrate.He can change the code on his own computer but he can't change the code on others.If he want to change the thing on the chain ,he must "persuade" others to beilieve that they can earn,if following him. That is what 51% hashrate does .I think it is impossible .Emmm,Maybe he can prove that blockchain is not secure using his wisdom and then destory the whole cryptocurrency,or let their price go down︿(￣︶￣)︿。
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2Downvote: having 51% of hashrate does not allow someone to arbitrarily change the network rules. That is a different consideration entirely. – chytrik Apr 05 '21 at 04:45
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51%hashrate can't change the network rules ,but can change blocks.em I have mistaken his question,What he said is about rules not the safety – DaJin Wei Apr 06 '21 at 08:51