Bitcoin Core Maintainer Gloria Zhao Emphasizes Mempool's Role in Censorship Resistance

Bitcoin Core maintainer Gloria Zhao recently discussed the significance of mempools in ensuring Bitcoin's censorship resistance during an interview at the MIT Bitcoin Expo in Boston. Zhao, who began contributing to Bitcoin Core in 2020, has since become a key figure in the development and maintenance of the Bitcoin protocol.

Zhao's journey into Bitcoin Core began shortly after her graduation from UC Berkeley, where she chose to dedicate her time to contributing to Bitcoin Core full-time, supported by funding from Brink, the Human Rights Foundation, and Spiral. This decision came after an internship at Google, where she could have pursued a full-time career. In 2022, she was appointed as a Bitcoin Core maintainer, taking over the role from Pieter Wiulle on the same day he stepped down.

In her role, Zhao not only contributes to the development of Bitcoin Core but also mentors new contributors and organizes the Bitcoin Core PR Review Club with Stéphan Vuylsteke. This club conducts weekly reviews of open pull requests, ensuring that new code proposals are thoroughly vetted before integration.

During the interview, Zhao emphasized the importance of a decentralized and open mempool for Bitcoin's censorship resistance. The mempool, or memory pool, is a holding area for unconfirmed transactions before they are added to the blockchain. Zhao's work focuses on package relay, a method of sending transactions across the network in groups to optimize fees and enhance reliability.

Zhao also discussed how the mempool interacts with layer two systems, which are built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain to improve scalability and efficiency. She highlighted the ongoing efforts to improve the mempool's functionality and health, ensuring that it remains a critical component of Bitcoin's decentralized network.

Zhao's insights provide a deeper understanding of the technical aspects of Bitcoin and the importance of maintaining a robust and decentralized mempool. Her contributions and leadership in the Bitcoin Core community underscore the collaborative and open nature of Bitcoin development, ensuring that the network remains resilient against censorship and other threats.