Bitcoin adoption will only occur in the mainstream when it connects to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), according to Willem Schroé, the founder of Botanix Labs. Schroé argues that for Bitcoin to increase its adoption and utility, it must start participating in the EVM world, as the EVM is the application layer for the global financial system. He believes that Bitcoin has the most secure and decentralized protocol, and connecting it to the EVM will enable it to interact with real-world assets, stablecoins, decentralized finance, and nonfungible tokens. Schroé’s company, 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. This integration will allow Bitcoin to interact with the EVM.
However, there are concerns about the security and centralization risks associated with multi-chain ecosystems and cross-chain bridges. Schroé believes that current solutions involving wrapped Bitcoin on Ethereum and other EVM-compatible chains are problematic as they are operated by a centralized US-based company, BitGo. Another proposal called “drivechains” or Bitcoin Improvement Proposal-300 (BIP-300) aims to bring Ethereum functionality to Bitcoin. This proposal would require Bitcoin to undergo a soft fork and would be activated by miners. Bitcoin developer Robin Linus released a white paper outlining how Ethereum-like optimistic rollup smart contracts could be implemented on the Bitcoin network.
Despite these developments, not everyone supports expanding Bitcoin’s ecosystem beyond its current use cases. Cory Klippsten, CEO of BTC-only exchange Swan Bitcoin, expresses concerns that bringing other assets to Bitcoin will attract scammers. Saifedean Ammous, author of “The Bitcoin Standard,” opposes the idea of issuing altcoins on Bitcoin, stating that “good money” is the only token needed. However, Schroé believes that combining Bitcoin and Ethereum could lead to new applications with decentralization and security as the guiding principles.
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