Dan Held

Bitcoin needs Ethereum VM to reach its full potential — Web3 exec

October 10, 2023 Coin Telegraph

bip-300

Botanix Labs founder Willem Schroé argues a “huge amount of value” from real-world assets will be captured on Bitcoin, provided it connects to the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

Mainstream Bitcoin (BTC) adoption won’t happen until it bridges to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) — the first point of entry for many real-world assets moving on-chain, a Web3 executive argues.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, the founder of cross-chain infrastructure firm Botanix Labs, Willem Schroé, claimed Bitcoin “needs to start playing in the EVM world” for it to build real-world use cases to increase its adoption and utility.

“Bitcoin is the most technologically secure and truly decentralized protocol [and] the EVM has proven itself to be the application layer for the global financial system,” Schroé said.

Our Botanix Protocol positions Ethereum as a Layer-2 solution on top of #Bitcoin.

We've added Ethereum onto the Bitcoin Network's secure foundation to harness the security of its Proof-of-Work mechanism.

Also, enjoy the developmental ease of Ethereum.
— Botanix Labs (@BotanixLabs) September 25, 2023

While Bitcoin is typically used as a peer-to-peer payment system or for storing value, Schroé said its potential won’t be fulfilled unless the cryptocurrency can connect to the broader financial system, such as with security and commodity markets.

Connecting Bitcoin to Ethereum-based real-world assets, stablecoins, decentralized finance and nonfungible tokens via the EVM is the first step in that direction, Schroé argued.

“That’s a huge amount of value and development waiting to happen.”

Schroé’s Botanix Labs aims to connect the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems through its “Spiderchain” — a proof-of-stake layer 2 that implements EVM to EVM bridges to enable Bitcoin to interact with the EVM.

Bitcoin and Ethereum may seem like opposites, but they can co-exist and complement each other.

However, this does present some challenges.

Multi-chain ecosystems with cross-chain bridges can have security and centralization risks, hindering the potential of collaboration.
— Botanix Labs (@BotanixLabs) October 2, 2023

Staked assets are secured by a decentralized multisignature mechanism, and its design doesn’t require Bitcoin to be forked.

Schroé believes the current solutions involving wrapped Bitcoin on Ethereum and other EVM-compatible chains are problematic and argues they are susceptible to censorship and regulatory scrutiny, as they’re operated by the centralized United States-based company BitGo.

A similar proposal to bring Ethereum functionality to Bitcoin is also being proposed through “drivechains,” also known as the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal-300, which Bitcoin developers are again discussing. If implemented, it would allow “sidechains” to be built on the network.

On Oct. 9, Bitcoin developer Robin Linus released a white paper titled “BitVM: Compute Anything on Bitcoin,” which details how Ethereum-like optimistic rollup smart contracts could be made on the Bitcoin network.

Unlike the Spiderchain, BIP-300 would require Bitcoin to soft fork and would be activated by miners — similar to the Taproot soft fork in November 2021 that paved the way for the NFT-emulating Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens.

The BIP’s creator, Paul Sztroc, says those favoring BIP-300 believe it will offer new privacy and scaling use cases to Bitcoin, among other benefits.

So far at @tabconf:

* Many pro Bip300 -- popular usecases are Privacy, Scaling, and experimentation (get new OP codes now)
* Very popular question is: when is my debate with Peter Todd (Friday at 2 PM)
* Many complained about off-base Twitter dialog and nonsense propaganda
*…
— Paul Sztorc (@Truthcoin) September 7, 2023

However, not everyone likes the idea of expanding Bitcoin’s ecosystem beyond its current use cases.

Cory Klippsten, the CEO of BTC-only exchange Swan Bitcoin, believes drivechains and solutions that bring other assets to Bitcoin will bring an influx of scammers.

Saifedean Ammous, the author of The Bitcoin Standard, opposes the idea of issuing altcoins on Bitcoin, suggesting that “good money” is the only token needed.

People only think tokens are a good idea because we live in a world of broken money. A good money is the only token anyone ever needs. Bitcoin is going to detokenize the world. https://t.co/q8Nhc7XcOX
— Saifedean Ammous (@saifedean) August 28, 2023

However, Schroé said he thinks bringing together Bitcoin and Ethereum could produce a new array of applications “with decentralization and security as first principles.“

“EVM is the winning virtual machine, and Bitcoin is the best money,” he said.

Magazine: Ethereum is eating the world — ‘You only need one internet’

Meet Ordinals, the New Bitcoin NFT Engine, and the Drama Surrounding Them

January 31, 2023 Bitcoin.com

Ordinals protocol sparks debate over NFT’s place in the Bitcoin ecosystem

January 30, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Adam Back

The community has been divided as to whether the NFT-like "digital artifacts" are the right fit for the Bitcoin ecosystem.

The recent launch of a nonfungible token (NFT) protocol on the Bitcoin mainnet has the crypto community divided over whether it’ll be good for the Bitcoin ecosystem.

The protocol, referred to as “Ordinals,” was created by software engineer Casey Rodarmor, who officially launched the program on the Bitcoin mainnet following a Jan. 21 blog post.

The protocol essentially allows for the Bitcoin version of NFTs — described as “digital artifacts” on the Bitcoin network.

These “digital artificats” can comprise of JPEG-like images, PDFs, video and audio formats.

*Meme-inspired, NFT-like “digital artifacts” are now being inscripted on the Bitcoin network. Source:* *Ordinals.*

The introduction of the protocol has the Bitcoin community divided however, with some arguing that it would offer more financial use cases for Bitcoin, while others say its straying away from Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision of Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer cash system.

Bitcoin bull Dan Held was one of those on board with the development, noting that it would drive demand for block space, and thus fees, while bringing more use cases to Bitcoin.

Why it's good:
- Brings more financial use cases to Bitcoin
- Drives more demand for block space (aka fees)

My take:
- If you pay a tx fee, it's not spam.
- Bitcoin is permissionless. Can't stop anyone from building it anyway.
— Dan Held (@danheld) January 29, 2023

Some have pointed out that these NFT-like structures have taken up block space on the Bitcoin network, which could drive up transaction fees.

BREAKING: NFTs ON #BITCOIN

Ordinals are taking up most of the BLOCKSPACE pic.twitter.com/Gxwq4vV8MI
— Bitcoin News ⚡ (@BitcoinNewsCom) January 29, 2023

Among those include “Bitcoin is Saving” on Twitter, suggesting to its 237,600 followers on Jan. 29 that “privileged wealthy white” people’s desire to put JPEGs as status symbols may exclude marginalized people from participating in the Bitcoin network.

Cryptocurrency researcher Eric Wall disagreed with the opinion that the in-built block size limit will prevent a rise in transaction fees.

Others, such as Blockstream CEO and Bitcoin core developer Adam Back wasn’t happy with meme culture being brought to Bitcoin, who suggested the developers to take the “stupidity” elsewhere:

"you can't stop them" well ofc! bitcoin is designed to be censor resistant. doesn't stop us mildly commenting on the sheer waste and stupidity of an encoding. at least do something efficient. otherwise it's another proof of consumption of block-space thingy.
— Adam Back (@adam3us) January 29, 2023

However, Ethereum bull and host of The Daily Gwei Anthony Sassano took a shot at the Blockstream CEO for wanting “undesirable” transactions to be censored — which many believe goes against the ethos of Bitcoin:

Adam Back and Luke Dashjr are both Bitcoin core developers who have encouraged censorship over the last 48 hours of these "undesirable" transactions

So no, it isn't just Bitcoin maximalists - it's actual Bitcoin core developers
— sassal.eth (@sassal0x) January 30, 2023

In a blog post, Rodarmor explained that the NFT-like structures are created by inscribing satoshis — the native currency of the Bitcoin network — with arbitrary content.

These inscribed satoshis — which are cryptographically represented by a string of numbers — can then be secured or transferred to other Bitcoin addresses, according to notes in Ordinal’s technical documentation:

“Inscribing is done by sending the satoshi to be inscribed in a transaction that reveals the inscription content on-chain. This content is then inextricably linked to that satoshi, turning it into an immutable digital artifact that can be tracked, transferred, hoarded, bought, sold, lost, and rediscovered.”

The inscriptions take place on the Bitcoin mainnet, no sidechain or separate token is needed, the document states.

Inscriptions are finally ready for Bitcoin mainnet.

Inscriptions are like NFTs, but are true digital artifacts: decentralized, immutable, always on-chain, and native to Bitcoin. https://t.co/a4dK7zdITS
— Casey Rodarmor (@rodarmor) January 20, 2023

It appears that only 277 digital artifacts have been inscripted thus far, according to the Ordinals website.

Interestingly, Rodarmor — admitted in an Aug. 25 interview on Hell Money Podcast that Ordinals was created to bring memes to life on Bitcoin:

“This is 100% a meme-driven development.”

Bitcoin hashrate recovers after big freeze shuts down miners

December 26, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Argo

The Bitcoin network hashrate has returned to 241.29 EH/s after a temporary 38% fall to 170.60 EH/s from a weekly peak of 276.40 EH/s.

Bitcoin’s network hashrate has returned to regular levels again, days after freezing temperatures across the United States put a strain on the nation's electricity grid — leading to a temporary drop in hashrate.

In the days leading up to Christmas, bone-chilling temperatures swept across the United States, leading to millions without power and claiming at least 28 lives.

According to reports, Bitcoin miners in Texas, which accounts for a significant portion of the country's hashrate, voluntarily curtailed operations to give power back to the grid — so that residents can keep their homes heated.

The disruptions appear to have put a dent in Bitcoin’s hashrate, which typically hovers around 225-300 Exahashes per second (EH/s). This fell to 170.60 EH/s on Dec. 25.

As of Dec. 26 however, the hashrate has returned to 241.29 EH/s, according to data from hashrate mining calculator CoinWarz.

Bitcoin’s hashrate is calculated by measuring the number of hashes produced by Bitcoin miners trying to solve the next block. It is regarded as a key metric in assessing how secure the Bitcoin network is.

The recent events prompted a controversial statement from FutureBit founder John Stefanop, who suggested the fall in hashrate was due to a number of “highly centralized mines” in Texas turning off at the same time.

“I know, does not change the fact that a few large mines in Texas affect the entire network to the tune of 33%...everyones transactions are now being confirmed 30% slower because the hashrate is not decentralized enough,” he said.

“If hashrate was distributed evenly around the world by 10’s of millions of small miners instead of a few dozen massive mines, this event would not have even registered on the network,” Stefanop added.

Bitcoin bull Dan Held however refuted Stefanop’s take on the events, arguing that weather patterns do not mean centralized ownership or control.

According to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, the United States accounts for 37.84% of the average monthly hashrate share. The top four states in the country for Bitcoin mining include New York, Kentucky, Georgia and Texas — all of which had experienced power outages due to the winter storm.

However, Dennis Porter, the CEO of Bitcoin mining advocacy group Satoshi Action Fund noted to his 127,400 Twitter followers on Dec. 25 that while the inclement weather, particularly in Texas, caused 30% of Bitcoin’s hashrate in the United States to go offline, the network “continues to work perfectly.”

Over 30% of the #Bitcoin hashrate has gone offline due to extreme weather in Texas and yet the global #Bitcoin network continues to work perfectly.

Now imagine if Amazon or Google tried turning off 1/3rd of their data centers. pic.twitter.com/G49iqBZXDL
— Dennis Porter (@Dennis_Porter_) December 25, 2022

Cheap power and favorable mining regulation in Texas has led to a Bitcoin mining boom in Texas in recent months, which is now host to some of the largest mining companies in the world.

Among those Riot Blockchain, Argo, Bitdeer, Argo, Compute North, Genesis Digital Assets and Core Scientific — who’ve recently received a $37.4 million bankruptcy loan to stay afloat.

However recent weather events have only added to Bitcoin mining companies’ list of headaches.

The bear market has plagued Bitcoin mining companies to the tune of $4 billion in debt, according to recent data.

Many notable U.S. based mining companies have filed for bankruptcy in recent months too, while many other companies are approaching near-insurmountable debt-to-equity ratios that require immediate restructuring.

The tragic weather events haven’t impacted the price of Bitcoin (BTC) thus far, which is currently priced at $16,826 — only down 0.27 over the last 24 hours.

CZ and Saylor urge for crypto self-custody amid increasing uncertainty

November 14, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Anthony Sassano

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said self-custody is a “fundamental human right,” while Michael Saylor said self-custody is necessary to prevent powerful actors from accumulating and abusing power.

Industry heavyweights have urged crypto investors and traders to self-custody their crypto assets amid the significant market uncertainty brought on by the collapse of FTX.

In a Nov. 13 tweet to his 7.6 million followers, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao pushed the crypto community to store their own crypto via self-custody crypto wallets.

“Self custody is a fundamental human right. You are free to do it anytime. Just make sure you do do it right,” he said, recommending investors to start with small amounts in order to learn the technology and tooling first:

Self custody is a fundamental human right.
You are free to do it at any time.
Just make sure you do do it right.
Recommend start with small amounts to learn the tech/tools first.
Mistakes here can be very costly.
Stay #SAFU
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) November 13, 2022

Speaking to Cointelegraph during the Pacific Bitcoin conference on Nov. 10-11, MicroStrategy executive chairman Michael Saylor also discussed the merits of self-custody given the current market environment.

Saylor suggested that self-custody not only provides investors with property rights, it also prevents powerful actors from corrupting the network and its participants:

“In systems where there is no self-custody, the custodians accumulate too much power and then they can abuse that power.”

“So self-custody is very valuable for this broad middle class, as it tends to create [...] this power of checks and balances on every other actor in the system that causes them to be in continual competition to provide transparency and virtue,” he explained.

Backstage interview with the charming Michael @saylor ⚡️

✅ check @Cointelegraph to read his advice on how to handle the bear market

@pacificbitcoin

pic.twitter.com/yWZmEsgQar
— Joe Nakamoto (@JoeNakamoto) November 11, 2022

Saylor also made the argument that self-custody plays an important role in maintaining the integrity and security of blockchains because it increases decentralization:

“If you can’t self-custody your coin, there’s no way to establish a decentralized network.”

The recent events that transpired last week appear to have already pushed many investors and traders towards self-custody solutions.

Since the sudden collapse of FTX in early November, the number of Bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals on centralized exchanges reached a 17-month high, according to on-chain analytics firm Glassnode:

#Bitcoin $BTC Number of Exchange Withdrawals (7d MA) just reached a 17-month high of 3,424.315

View metric:https://t.co/QyB7zouWee pic.twitter.com/Su4biTEM7h
— glassnode alerts (@glassnodealerts) November 13, 2022

While at the same time, net inflows into self-custody wallets have soared.

Smart contract wallet Safe — previously Gnosis Safe — reported over $800 million in net inflows since last Tuesday when the FTX saga began to spiral out of control:

Over $800M net in-flows into @Safe since last Tuesday. $325M on Thursday alone. Looks like a flight to self-custody. pic.twitter.com/hiuij9dp7s
— lukasschor.eth | Safe (@SchorLukas) November 13, 2022

The outflow from centralized exchanges caused by the FTX meltdown also created problems for hardware-based cryptocurrency wallet provider Ledger — who were temporarily unable to process a mass influx of inflows due to scalability issues.

The token of the Binance-acquired self-custody wallet Trust Wallet (TWT) also increased 84% to $2.19 over the last 48 hours before cooling off to $1.83, according to CoinGecko.

The token allows token holders to participate in deciding how the wallet operates and what technical updates are to be made.

Investor confidence in centralized exchanges took another hit on Nov. 13 when Crypto.com accidentally sent 320,000 ETH to Gate.io.

Ethereum bull and host of The Daily Gwei Anthony Sassano on Nov. 13 called out the crypto exchange over its mistake and later stated that investors should not store assets on centralized exchanges “for longer than you need to.”

Meanwhile, Blockchain Association head of policy Jake Chervinsky said that self-custody education should be one of the first things newcomers learn, while Bitcoin proponent Dan Held told his 642,800 Twitter followers that self-custody is a crucial element to self-sovereignty:

Self custody your Bitcoin and run a full node.

That’s how you achieve self sovereignty.

Don’t trust, verify.
— Dan Held (@danheld) November 12, 2022

Cowboy hats, boots, guns and crypto talk with Dan Held

October 28, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Bitcoiner Dan Held takes journalist Nicole Behnam around Austin, Texas, as they recount their journeys into the world of cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoiner Dan Held gave journalist Nicole Behnam a true Texan welcome to Austin while the pair discussed their individual paths into the world of crypto.

Dan Held is a household name in the world of Bitcoin while Nicole Behnam is a journalist-turned cryptocurrency and NFT enthusiast. Together the pair explored Held’s hometown in Austin, Texas, getting a taste of local life while delving into their journeys into the cryptocurrency space.

Held took Behnam to a local gun range to start things off, with the pair getting the chance to shoot a rare World War II German MP40. Behnam then grabbed her first cowboy hat from a local store and matched that with a pair of boots before the pair rounded off their thoughts on the cryptocurrency space.

The pair finished off the day unpacking the prevailing perception towards Bitcoin as NFTs and Web3 becomes more of a focus. Held closed off the interview by giving a broad view of why other blockchain platforms trade off some semblance of decentralization to enable other functionality.

“This is where a lot of Bitcoiners don’t question the nature of Bitcoin. What if Bitcoin has over-optimized for security or decentralization? I admit that could be a flaw in our thinking.”

However, Held also stressed that this is a major reason why Bitcoin remains strong against any nation-state potentially attacking the network.