12 Lines of Code Could End Bitcoin as We Know It (Hooray?)

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12 lines of code.

Apparently that’s all it takes…

12 lines of code, and…BOOM!

Some of Ethereum’s most popular functionality can easily be copied by Bitcoin.

Thing is — this ain’t new! In fact, this code used to be a part of Bitcoin…but it was deleted by none other than Satoshi Nakamoto, as he/she (they?) believed it exposed the network to massive security flaws.

And now three developers want to add this code, known as ‘OP_CAT,‘ back in.

There’re pros and cons to the proposal — so let’s rip the bandaid off — starting with…

Cons:

OP_CAT was removed from Bitcoin’s core code by Satoshi, because they believed it opened the network up to distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

Imagine someone being able to remotely open 1000+ browser tabs on your computer, every second (the thing would damn near melt!).

DDoS attacks work in a similar way – the basic aim is to overwhelm the Bitcoin network with so much traffic that it’s forced to shut down.

Pros:

The Bitcoin community is staunch as hell when it comes to changing/updating Bitcoin’s core code. So this thing isn’t going to happen if it can’t be done safely.

Now, if it can be done safely — Bitcoin might be about to get very Ethereum-y.

Confused? Here’s what that means:

Right now, sending transactions on Bitcoin is like driving an armored tank to work each day — sure, it’s super secure…but it’s also slow and crazy expensive.

OP_CAT would allow ‘Ethereum-style’ layer 2’s to be easily built on Bitcoin — which would be akin to trading the armored tank in for a 1999 Toyota Corolla.

(I.e. faster, and cheaper).

On top of that, Ethereum-style platforms like decentralized exchanges (or even file hosting) would become much easier to build/implement on Bitcoin.

Sounds interesting. Let’s see if the BTC community will allow it!