In contrast, I am more optimistic about the future of Bitcoin expansion. The most essential reason is that the currency core of Bitcoin is better than any new public chain and Ethereum.
Original author: Hacash.com Lianchuang Ken You
Original source: ChainCatcher
Bitcoin has been in operation for 14 years since the mainnet was launched in 2009 . During this period, the development of the crypto world has had its ups and downs. I have been in the industry since 2017 and have experienced two bulls and bears. I also participated in hosting the first thousand-person blockchain summit Blockchain Connect Conference in San Francisco in the United States at the beginning of 2018. Since the event happened to be held in December 2017 , Bitcoin It was held after reaching a peak of 20,000 , and the event was so popular that it was hard to get a ticket, and there were even scalpers. At that time, few people realized that a cruel bear market in the crypto had quietly begun. Later, it seemed that the law of falling at every turn appeared.
Singapore Token2049 was held nearly two years after the high of 60,000 Bitcoins in November 2021 , but its excitement was not much different from the event I held in San Francisco that year, or even more lively. With more than 10,000 people, countless project parties, and 300 surrounding activities, there is no sense that this is what a bear market should be like.
Of course, compared with 2017 , the landscape of the crypto has undergone earth-shaking changes in 2023 , and has been recognized by more people and mainstream institutions. Recently, there is also a saying: the United States is unfriendly to Web3 policies and Hong Kong is vigorously developing Web3 , and the industry is in a state of rising in the east and declining in the west.
I still clearly remember the 2018 summit. Brad, the most popular Ripple CEO , was accompanied by many bodyguards when he came on stage. However, this time he also came to Token2049 , but he no longer had the prestige of the year. In the past, Li Qiwei, the founder of Litecoin, gave a solo speech that was packed with people. But now it is impossible to hear any news about Litecoin on Token2049 .
Litecoin is an early experiment of Bitcoin. The popular jingle " Bitcoin, Litesilver " in 2017-2018 is no longer mentioned today. However, Bitcoin as a digital gold is still gaining mainstream recognition from more and more people. recognized. But Bitcoin is as simple and boring as traditional gold, and the entire Token2049 seems relatively monotonous and desolate. Throughout the entire event venue, there were basically no projects or booths focusing on Bitcoin. Among the 300 peripheral activities, there are only single-digit activities related to the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem. This is obviously in sharp contrast to Bitcoin as the largest market value project.
It seems that everyone involved recognizes and knows the importance of Bitcoin, and even holds the largest number of crypto assets. But in reality, you can feel that they will only regard Bitcoin’s halving cycle as the next one. It is an important indicator of a bull market, nothing else. When I introduce that I am working on the Bitcoin expansion ecosystem, I often get two reactions. The first reaction is " Are you working on Ordinals ? " , and the other reaction is " Are you working on Layer 2 ? "
Thanks to Ordinals , the ecological development of Bitcoin seems to have gained a certain degree of attention again. As Muneeb , co-founder of Stacks , a second-layer Bitcoin solution, said in Token2049 ’s “ Beyond Satoshi: Defining the Meta on Bitcoin ”, “Ordians are a watershed in the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem. ”
However, there are many sharp comments on Ordinals in the market: “Ordinals are becoming more and more like plates. People in this ecosystem don’t care about the development of Bitcoin, or even whether they are really related to Bitcoin. They only care about the concept of Bitcoin. Sell coins. "
When you ask the Ordinals project team for their opinions, they protest against Bitcoin Laser Eyes (referring to Bitcoin Core) very loudly, and the representative way is to wear a " wizard hat " . As people who have just entered the Web3 industry, they believe that Bitcoin is too conservative and not enterprising.
At the same time, Nic Carter of Capital Castle Island Ventures (some Chinese media mistook him for Nick Szabo, the father of smart contracts) also pointed out that USDT ’s trading volume has completely surpassed Bitcoin’s trading volume. Whether this is due to technical reasons or monetary reasons, it is an objective fact that BTC ’s settlement center status is threatened or even surpassed. More Bitcoin laser eyes are needed to recognize the current situation. Bitcoin needs new technologies, new concepts, and new upgrades.
The Bitcoin civil war between laser eyes (conservative) and wizard hats (radical) is still going on, but everyone on Token2049 is more inclined to Bitcoin and needs more development. The co-founder of Stacks proposed that there are currently only three options for new developers to come to Web3 , namely high- TPS Layer1 such as Solana , Aptos , and Sui , and the other is the L2 ecosystem of Ethereum. The only remaining option is Bitcoin expansion. Ecological.
In addition to the consensus and expectation that BTC ETF has become a consensus and expectation, everyone has expressed a trace of confusion about the future ecological development of Bitcoin. It seems that there is no general direction or narrative that can lead the development of Bitcoin. But it is this current situation and this calmness that may be brewing huge opportunities for the next round of Bitcoin development.
On Token2049 , I met David , winner of the Shannon Award, academician of the American Academy of Engineering, and professor at Stanford. He leads the Bitcoin PoS pledge project Babylonchain full-time, with the goal of realizing the DeFi function of BTC on the PoS chain; and the team of Layer Two Labs , the proposer of BIP300/301 , mainly to solve the application expansion and miner incentive issues of Bitcoin; The teams working on projects around the Lightning Network and RGB protocol are mainly optimistic about the development of the Lightning Network and realize the Turing-complete extension of BTC through RGB ; there are also side chain teams that directly integrate BTC across chains to combine EVM . There are also some old people in the industry who revealed in their words that they are also secretly preparing new projects for Bitcoin expansion.
Of course, there is also the BTC one-way transfer expansion solution Hacash.com that we are leading. In addition to solving the application expansion and sustainability issues of Bitcoin, it also solves the problem that Bitcoin lacks a new round of economic flashpoints and its purchasing power is unstable and cannot be used as a daily basis. The question of general equivalents. Basically everyone is in the first or second round of financing stage.
Due to the need for financing, I contacted more than a dozen capital companies for brief exchanges during the entire conference. Basically, everyone was very interested, but the answer was basically that they had not invested in the Bitcoin ecosystem before, and they started paying attention recently, or they just started recently. Projects that are closely in touch with the Bitcoin ecosystem, such as investing in Xverse, a Bitcoin wallet that raised US$ 5 million.
Of course, there are also some non-mainstream capital companies that don’t care at all what direction you take. They just tell you directly and clearly how to make money quickly. But it has to be said that except for the team that simply issued coins in Ordianls , there are currently few investors who would refuse to understand a genuine new project in the Bitcoin expansion ecosystem.
It seems that there are only three general directions in the visible future of the entire industry. First, the new public chain, but the possibility is getting lower and lower. The second is the second layer of Ethereum. Players are constantly entering the market and it is in full swing. The third is the expansion of Bitcoin, which has just begun and few people are paying attention to it. In contrast, I am more optimistic about the future of Bitcoin expansion. The most essential reason is that the currency core of Bitcoin is better than any new public chain and Ethereum.
What impressed me deeply was that an Ordinals entrepreneur asked Stanford professor David , " Will Bitcoin shorten the block time in the future ?" The professor immediately gave a negative answer. But in fact, as long as there is some research on Bitcoin or old people in the industry, they basically know that this thing is impossible to happen. A war similar to the Bitcoin block size has already happened once in 2017 . No one can easily change all aspects of Bitcoin’s consensus rules, technical system and monetary policy. This stability is the reliable foundation of Bitcoin’s value.
These seemingly repetitive questions and discussions also allow me to see a benefit. Project parties who have entered the Bitcoin ecosystem through Ordinals or those who are involved in the development, market, and operation of Bitcoin ecological projects are also constantly understanding Bitcoin. By actively thinking about the future of Bitcoin in all aspects, they will be a reserve force that cannot be underestimated for the future development of Bitcoin.
But no matter who wants to expand on Bitcoin or want to discuss the future of Bitcoin, they must recognize the three major obstacles that currently exist in Bitcoin. First, Bitcoin theologians do not accept any form of criticism or improvement suggestions. They believe that Bitcoin has always and always been the most perfect and will definitely rule the world. This almost crazy arrogance and self-deception will become a stumbling block for the community to move forward. Second, the technical architecture of Bitcoin is rough and primitive, and it is very difficult to modify and expand. Third, the purchasing power of Bitcoin is quite unstable, causing USDT to replace Bitcoin’s settlement status. Only settlement currency can become the core of the economic system, otherwise there is always the possibility of being replaced by a better settlement currency.
If we want to make some suggestions for the future development of Bitcoin, there are roughly three: First, break and abandon Bitcoin’s “ theistic beliefs ” , objectively analyze and correctly understand the advantages and disadvantages of Bitcoin in all aspects; second, in line with the Under the premise of Bitcoin's values, decentralization and other advantages, try as many expansion plans as possible without presupposing any preconceived and obstructive ideas; third, we must consider the most important issue: the issue of purchasing power stability. This is In a sense, it is the key to determine whether Bitcoin can enter real-world economic applications on a large scale. Especially after the Flatcoin concept recently proposed by CoinBase , this direction has become increasingly clear.
Bitcoin's current predicament also confirms the advantages of Bitcoin's decentralization. This is the essence that distinguishes it from other encryption projects, and may also be the main basis for Bitcoin to still maintain the first market value. However, it is precisely because of this decentralization that any plan by anyone may affect the future of Bitcoin. This is in sharp contrast to the " one word " situation of the leader of Ethereum Vitalik .
The Bitcoin ecosystem, whether it is projects or capital, is waiting for talents. In this early days with little attention, no one still knows who will lead the future of Bitcoin into the next grand new chapter. But heroes emerge from the wilderness, and we should be convinced that the Nuggets era of Bitcoin expansion is coming.
