Ethereum Co-Founder Says Bitcoin Should Adopt Scaling Solutions to Expand Its Footprint

Over the past decade and more, Bitcoin (BTC) has emerged as a strong store of value with nearly 200% compounding returns. However, if Bitcoin were to establish itself as just more than the use for payments, it needs to implement more scaling solutions, noted Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

“I think if we want Bitcoin to be more than payments, it needs more scaling solutions,” said Vitalik Buterin. His comments came during the Twitter Space event last week. However, Buterin added that the major problem with Bitcoin is politics. “Bitcoin has really weird politics,” he said, adding that he “doesn’t vibe with them.”

The creator of Ethereum engaged in a discussion with Eric Wall, known as the "altcoin slayer," and Bitcoin developer Udi Wertheimer. They explored the lessons that Bitcoiners can glean from Ethereum.

The three individuals addressed a major challenge faced by Bitcoin, which is its slow transaction speed. They discussed the importance of scaling solutions, particularly layer two approaches, to enhance the efficiency of sending and receiving Bitcoin. The focus of the conversation centered around scaling, with Buterin, Wall, and Wertheimer highlighting the potential lessons that Bitcoiners could glean from the perceived competitor, Ethereum.

“I think if we want Bitcoin to be more than just payments, it will need scaling options like Plasma or ZK Rollups,” said Buterin. The Ethereum co-founder added that Optimism and Arbitrum are successful examples of “roll-ups” which could serve as case studies for Bitcoin.

Wall emphasized the importance of Bitcoin examining these trials to avoid the ecosystem being left with less secure rollups. However, Buterin anticipated that the proposal would likely face opposition from those concerned about security.

Wall, who has been prominent with the Taproot Wizards, raised the topic of Bitcoin's security model and the 21 million hard cap. Buterin acknowledged grappling with this question and suggested that Ordinals could address the issue by establishing a reasonable fee market to compensate for the decreasing block subsidies and mitigate future security concerns.

The Ethereum co-founder also praised the development around Ordinals calling it a “return to builder culture”. Buterin further noted that he “definitely see signs of hope now that we have Ordinals,” calling them a “real pushback to laser eyed maximalism.”

Buterin also sought to identify ten commonalities between both ecosystems. He highlighted the notion of immutability being claimed by both chains, as well as the presence of layer-1 privacy challenges in both Ethereum and Bitcoin. Additionally, Buterin acknowledged that both platforms have demonstrated the challenges associated with implementing decentralized consensus models.