Industry stereotypes: Is Bitcoin only a store of value?
Recently, a symposium held in Prague, hosted by M Group's Kevin McGrath, along with Stacks founder Muneeb Ali and Brendon Sedo, an initial contributor to the Bitcoin scaling solution Core, sparked a heated discussion about the future development of Bitcoin. First, Ali mentioned that the entire blockchain industry has a deep-rooted misunderstanding of Bitcoin, believing that this old blockchain can hardly do anything. However, there has been a significant change in the past year—more and more developers realize that Bitcoin can indeed be developed, although it has certain difficulties.
Ali stated more directly: 'Bitcoin needs Layer 2 more than Ethereum, because Ethereum can already do programmability at its base layer, while Bitcoin has to rely on Layer 2 or sidechains to expand its functionality.'
Brendon Sedo added that Bitcoin is generally viewed as a simple 'store of value', but he found that there is actually more demand in the market: for example, collateral loans, earning yields, etc. It is evident that many Bitcoin holders want to 'do more' within the ecosystem, so if richer application functions can be provided, Bitcoin will be able to break through its positioning limitations more quickly.
Inspired by Ethereum: Once seen as the Bitcoin test network?
Surprisingly, Ali pointed out that in 2013 and 2014, some people said, 'If a successful case appears on a small public chain, it will eventually return to Bitcoin.' At that time, Ethereum was still in its infancy and was seen by some as 'Bitcoin's test network.' Looking back now, Ethereum has undergone over five years of technological development, allowing Bitcoin developers to avoid many detours—technologies that have been successfully validated by Ethereum no longer need to be explored again. This 'result already researched by others' is equivalent to providing developers who want to build DeFi, NFTs, or cross-chain interoperability on Bitcoin the ability to directly learn from mature experiences and accelerate development.
Sedo also mentioned that research on cross-chain technology has become increasingly active in recent years. If cross-chain storage and payment methods based on 'trust minimization' can be successfully implemented, it will bring broader application space for Bitcoin. However, he also reminded that this still requires time to observe the final results.
Establishing U.S. Bitcoin reserves: Super bullish?
If Bitcoin ultimately attains the status of 'strategic reserve' in the United States, how significant would this national-level endorsement be? Discussing this point, the entire symposium reached a high consensus: if the U.S. really goes ahead, the Bitcoin market will benefit. Sedo described this as echoing many 'Bitcoin people' who have talked about the 'interstate competition' narrative since early on: once the U.S. takes the lead, other countries will inevitably follow to avoid losing competitiveness in the monetary and financial landscape.
Ali further cited large enterprises or major funds: if a new industry grows rapidly, companies are often 'forced' to layout, or else they seem derelict or miss opportunities. Similarly, once the U.S. decides to hoard Bitcoin, other countries will inevitably feel the pressure, potentially leading to a chain reaction internationally. He also emphasized that although this process may take longer than expected, once it really happens, it usually 'happens faster than anyone expects,' which is a typical emerging trend explosion model.
The potential of Bitcoin far exceeds imagination.
Overall, this symposium reached three major conclusions regarding the future development of Bitcoin:
The outside world generally misunderstands the versatility of Bitcoin; in fact, diverse applications can be realized through Layer 2 or sidechains.
If Ethereum is viewed as the 'Bitcoin test network,' then that public chain has already developed a complete set of mature examples, allowing Bitcoin developers to avoid unnecessary detours.
Once the U.S. or other major powers include Bitcoin in their strategic reserves, it will inevitably trigger many countries worldwide to follow suit, significantly boosting Bitcoin's status.
From this discussion, it can be seen that the guests believe Bitcoin is by no means just 'digital gold' or 'store of value'; its ecosystem may have just begun to unfold.
‘Everyone is misunderstanding! Expert: Bitcoin is not just 'digital gold', but also has 3 major potentials.’ This article was first published on 'Crypto City'.
