Bitcoin; the original cryptocurrency that is responsible for creating this entire market has remained on top as king ever since. When most people think about cryptocurrency, they will instantly think of Bitcoin; it is synonymous. There are also predictions by experts in the market that Bitcoin hasn’t even come close to reaching its full potential. That someday Bitcoin reaching a price of over $1 million per coin not only isn’t out of the question, but it is just a glimpse of what is truly possible.
However, that doesn’t mean Bitcoin is without faults. In fact, while it is unanimously the most popular cryptocurrency, there are several things that it doesn’t do well. One of these shortcomings is smart contracts. This is an area where other smart-contract blockchains like Ethereum blow Bitcoin out of the water in comparison.
With that said, in recent years there is one complaint about Bitcoin that is gaining steam in popularity.
People are complaining about how slow Bitcoin development is.
When Bitcoin was created, it was the hub where everything was happening. It was where all the development was happening, and there was a belief that eventually, everything would be possible on Bitcoin and that other blockchains would be unnecessary. That someday the blocksize would be increased to facilitate faster and cheaper transactions. Eventually, the protocol would be updated, or there would be layers built on top of Bitcoin that would allow smart contracts. DeFi, NFTs, fast transactions, passive income, DEXs, and even games would be possible. It would be your one-stop shop for all your crypto needs. It was truly an exciting place where experimenting and innovation were happening. There were no limits on what was possible.
However, somewhere along the way as Bitcoin’s market cap grew larger, there was a shift in the mentality of some of the largest Bitcoin owners. This shift in mindset is as old as time in the finance world. People start out hungry, motivated, and excited to motivate. But when they finally find success and become wealthy; their mindset shifts toward protecting their wealth rather than continuing to innovate.
That is exactly what happened with Bitcoin. As the years went by, Bitcoin’s development slowed down to a snail’s pace, and sometimes even seemed non-existent. Protocol upgrades such as SegWit or Taproot took years to be approved and implemented. In the minds of Bitcoiners, the BTC protocol was a treasure that needed to be protected at all costs. They didn’t want to do anything to risk damaging it.
In fact, during this time many of the most prominent Bitcoiners would even declare that Bitcoin’s base layer was a finished product and that it should never be altered again. From now on, only changes should be made to the layers built on top of Bitcoin.
This was the movement that caused many developers to end up losing interest in building on Bitcoin. They went to Ethereum, Solana, or other projects that were being hyped. Eventually, Bitcoin became known as the dinosaur blockchain where no development was happening. Often newcomers to crypto would even say that they thought Bitcoin was boring and looked to invest in other projects. During the last cycle, Bitcoin’s saving grace for the future was supposed to be the Lightning Network. This would allow Bitcoin to be used for daily use with transactions that were nearly instant and cost only a fraction of a penny. This was what was supposed to make Bitcoin go mainstream.
But, development went slow initially, and the hype behind it dwindled. In fact, people had begun considering it a ghost chain. Thankfully, this began to change after El Salvador announced that they would make Bitcoin legal tender in their country and would be using Lightning. But there is no denying Lightning didn’t have the initial splash that we were all hoping for.
With all of that said, there is hope for the future.
In 2023, everything began to change in the Bitcoin ecosystem and the builder mindset finally started returning to BTC. This was largely due to Ordinals (Bitcoin’s version of NFTs,) and BRC20 tokens being created on Bitcoin. All of a sudden, what was thought to be impossible on Bitcoin, was now possible. Developers began rushing back toward Bitcoin and there is once again excitement about the future.
The bigger question is which option is better for Bitcoin?
Is it better for Bitcoin to take a very slow and steady approach, assuring that everything goes smoothly and that Bitcoin is protected at all costs? Or, is it okay to move faster and break things at times, and fix them as needed?
As for me, Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency asset that I am the most passionate about. It is the most important cryptocurrency and if it would fail currently, it could take down the entire market. However, if we become afraid to innovate and take risks, that could also cause its downfall. Similar to how companies like Yahoo, Kodak, IBM, Blackberry, and several others grew so large that they stopped innovating, and ended up costing them. Innovation on Bitcoin is the key that would allow it to reach the adoption and price levels that we have all been dreaming of.
How about you? Is Bitcoin’s slow development a feature or a weakness
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As always, thank you for reading!
