Ethereum: Bitcoin won’t run on macOS

I downloaded the tgz file from bitcoincore.org and extracted it. When I first tried to run bitcoind from the command line, I got the usual macOS dialog about untrusted software, so I gave the program a few minutes to open its configuration file. When it finally did, I was greeted with an error message saying “Bitcoin will not run on this system.”

At first I thought I had done something wrong, but after double-checking the code and configuration files, I realized that Ethereum (the blockchain platform) does not run on macOS in its current form. This problem is due to a compatibility issue with the operating system.

Why Bitcoin won’t run on macOS

Bitcoin is designed to be a decentralized open source platform that can run on multiple platforms, including Windows and Linux. However, when it comes to macOS, Ethereum’s code base has fundamental design decisions that are incompatible with Apple’s operating system.

One of the main reasons is that MacOS requires a specific type of kernel architecture for Bitcoin to run properly. This requirement is tied to its underlying cryptographic algorithms and digital signatures, which are not supported on macOS.

Another problem is that the Ethereum framework uses a proprietary memory management system called “gyp” (Git-Yield Protection), which is optimized for Linux-based systems but is not suitable for macOS. The Gyp system is responsible for managing the block production process and transaction validation, but it requires a specific set of APIs and libraries that macOS does not have.

What to do next

While Ethereum cannot run directly on macOS, there are some workarounds and options:

• Compile from source

  : If you want to try installing Ethereum on your Mac, you can compile the code from source using tools like make and cmake. This allows you to choose which components of the platform to include or exclude.

• Use a different cryptocurrency

  : Bitcoin Core (the software you downloaded) runs on MacOS, while other cryptocurrencies are available on Windows.

• Consider alternative platforms: Ethereum is being developed in the Go programming language and can be used on multiple platforms, including Linux, Windows, and mobile devices.