<Interview source=News 1>
Bitcoin is a representative virtual asset leading the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin, designed to enable transactions without a central authority, is a virtual asset specialized for transactions between individuals, but has not served as a 'platform' for various types of decentralized applications (DApps).
Meanwhile, as a large platform called Ethereum emerged, various types of DApps, including decentralized finance (DeFi), expanded their vision on Ethereum and grew the Ethereum ecosystem.
This growth of Ethereum threatens Bitcoin's position as the 'representative virtual asset', which is called 'digital gold'. Accordingly, the industry has recently been divided into 'Ethereum supporters' and 'Bitcoin supporters', leading to a heated debate over the position of prince.
Munib Ali, the founder of Stax, whom I recently met at the Dispread office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, is an ardent supporter of Bitcoin. Stacks, which he is developing, is also a blockchain that serves as a solution for Bitcoin's scalability.
Munib Ali emphasized in an interview with <News 1> that Stacks will lead the role of Bitcoin's platform in the future.
◇ After Ordinals, ‘Bitcoin as a platform’ emerged… Stacks takes the lead in setting up the stage
Earlier this year, there was a topic of divided opinion among Bitcoin supporters regarding the future and changes of Bitcoin.
In order to protect the purity of Bitcoin's blockchain, there were two sides: those who said that an environment where DApps could be uploaded to Bitcoin, like Ethereum, should not be built, and those who said that an environment where DApps could be uploaded to Bitcoin should be built.
Among these, the so-called 'Ordinals Protocol' was created to create a diverse development environment for Bitcoin, including the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
First of all, Munib Ali argued that the concept of how people view Bitcoin has changed through the Ordinal Protocol.
Regarding the Ordinals protocol, he said, “With the emergence of Ordinals at the right time, interest in the Bitcoin builder culture surged,” adding, “Many people who had forgotten about Bitcoin came back, booted up Bitcoin nodes, and brought their developer spirit to Bitcoin. "We're reconnecting, and we expect this to create a very healthy future for Bitcoin," he said.
The trustless two-way Bitcoin peg system (sBTC), which Stacks developers led by Munib Ali will conduct a testnet as early as the end of this year, will also serve to strengthen Bitcoin's function as a platform.
He argued that if sBTC is launched, it will expand the range of choices for those planning Web 3 projects to choose a 'stage'.
He said, "Currently, most projects that want to introduce Web 3 will either build on Ethereum, that is, choose Ethereum Layer 2 like Polygon or Arbitrum, or act as an alternative to Ethereum like Solana or Avalanche. “I’m considering two options, whether to choose Layer 1 or not,” he said.
However, he added, "If Stacks acts as a layer 2 of Bitcoin, projects will face a third option: they can use Stacks to proceed with projects based on Bitcoin."
◇ How to become a successful Bitcoin Layer 2?... “In addition to sBTC, speed improvement must also be achieved”
However, Munib Ali said that in order for Bitcoin to play the role of Layer 1 and Stacks to play the role of Layer 2 above it, “In addition to the development of sBTC, a decentralized non-custodial Bitcoin-supported asset, Stacks’ block generation speed must be improved.” “He said.
Typically, it takes at least 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes to create one block on the Stacks blockchain. However, he explained that if the so-called 'Nakamoto Release', which contains developments such as the launch of sBTC and improvements to the speed of Stacks, is implemented, the block creation speed of Stacks will be greatly improved to within 5 seconds.
Munib Ali emphasized that through this Nakamoto release, ‘the vision of Stacks, which will serve as Layer 2 of Bitcoin,’ is fully unfolding.
First of all, he said, “Ordinals once accounted for 55% of Bitcoin transactions,” and “Famous NFT artists such as Biffle are already planning to upload NFT works on Bitcoin, citing Bitcoin’s excellent security as an advantage.” said.
He continued, "If a lot of content is uploaded on top of Bitcoin as a layer 1 and platform in the future, the gas fee will naturally go up." He added, "At that time, Stacks, which implemented the Nakamoto release, supported more build-ups on top of Bitcoin, making it more expensive than before." “It will be able to play many roles,” he emphasized.
According to him, the official release date of the Nakamoto release is expected to be early next year.
◇ “Bitcoin’s supply is twice that of Ethereum, its potential as a platform is endless.”
Munib Ali predicted that if Bitcoin serves as a platform to build a large ecosystem as planned, there will be a big change in the virtual asset ecosystem. In particular, he said, “It may not be Ethereum, but for smaller chains, it will be more difficult than before to secure competitiveness as layer 1.”
He said, “If you can normally move assets from Layer 1 Bitcoin to Layer 2 Stacks through Stacks, the potential of Stacks-based DeFi is endless.” He emphasized, “It is approximately 11.265 trillion won.”
Next, regarding the 'expected growth range of Bitcoin as a platform', he first said, "Take Ethereum as an example, Ethereum has successfully built an app ecosystem by recording a supply of $250 billion (approximately 331.625 trillion won)." “Layer 2 is about $60 billion (about 79.59 trillion won),” he said.
He added, “On the other hand, Bitcoin has a supply of $500 billion (approximately 663.25 trillion won), but it is mostly undeveloped (in terms of platform development),” adding, “There is a lot of room for expansion.”
He added, “During this process of Bitcoin’s growth, the main asset in Layer 2 Stacks will be Stacks (STX),” adding, “It is also worth looking forward to Stacks securing its own liquidity.”
◇ Ali "Effect of Bitcoin halving? Bitcoin, whose value has risen again, leads the bull market this time."
Meanwhile, Munib Ali, who is classified as a 'Bitcoin expert', also mentioned Bitcoin's halving planned for early next year.
He said, "Since entering the industry in 2013, we have experienced three bear markets. The results of the Bitcoin halving have always been as expected so far." He added, "(When the halving takes place) the block reward will increase and the hash “The rate will rise and the scarcity value of Bitcoin will also rise,” he said.
He added, “Bitcoin has always led the bull market in terms of fundamentals other than narrative, so I think it will follow a similar pattern this time as well.”
However, he said, "I personally do not provide investment training in virtual assets. Therefore, I am currently focusing my attention on building layer 2 based on Bitcoin."
However, he said, “Personally, I hope that Stacks will receive a lot of attention by launching the Nakamoto release before Bitcoin’s halving takes place,” and added, “There are always several events in the virtual asset market ahead of Bitcoin’s halving, and this is one of those events. “I hope this is Stax’s Nakamoto release,” he added.
