When
people
hear
the
two
words
“smart
contract”
they
tend
to
think
immediately
of
DAOs,
DEX’s,
and
NFTs
largely
found
on
Ethereum.
But
that’s
about
to
change.
In
2024,
we
can
expect
Bitcoin
to
take
the
lead
in
drawing
developers
to
build
on
the
network
due
to
superior
security
founded
in
its
proof-of-work
consensus
method
and
a
fee
model
that
is
designed
to
effectively
incentivize
network
contributors
now
through
eternity.
This
post
is
part
of
CoinDesk’s
“Crypto
2024”
predictions
package.
Taras
Kulyk
is
the
founder
and
CEO
of
SunnySide
Digital.
In
contrast,
Ethereum
zealots
have
been
predicting
that
ether
(ETH)
will
overtake
bitcoin
(BTC)
in
market
cap
for
years,
but
it’s
now
apparent
these
forecasts
are
not
coming
true.
ETH
is
now
down
almost
30%
in
relative
market
cap
versus
BTC.
Ironically,
the
only
flippening
likely
to
happen
is
a
migration
of
Ethereum
use
cases
transitioning
to
the
Bitcoin
protocol.
(Even
with
puritanical
Maxi
Bitcoiners
like
Luke
Dashjr
up
in
arms
about
it.)
Proof-of-sake:
The
death
knell
for
Ethereum
When
Ethereum
switched
to
proof-of-stake
(PoS),
it
set
the
course
for
its
gradual
and
inevitable
obsolescence.
In
contrast
to
proof-of-work
(PoW),
which
takes
into
account
the
physics
and
engineering
of
energy
consumption,
staking
implements
a
sort
of
“voting”
system
to
approve
the
next
correct
state
of
the
chain.
The
more
crypto
you
have,
the
greater
weight
your
votes
have.
Essentially,
PoS
is
a
replication
of
everything
that’s
wrong
with
our
current
financial
system
where
the
“haves”
obtain
greater
power
over
the
“have
nots”
or
“have
littles”
—
except
it’s
on
a
blockchain.
What’s
more,
if
measured
under
the
same
51%
attack
threat
model
as
PoW,
PoS
is
fundamentally,
and
fatally,
insecure.
This
is
anathema
to
the
cypherpunk
vision
and
it
should
be
condemned.
A
system
built
on
constant
hard
forks
is
bound
to
make
network
participants
weary
of
the
potential
unforeseen
implications
of
each
upgrade.
See
also:
Casey
Rodarmor:
The
Bitcoin
Artist
|
Most
Influential
2023
You
could
say
Ethereum
was
misguided
from
the
beginning,
ever
since
the
Ethereum
Foundation
created
a
70%
premine
to
pay
themselves.
This
move
set
the
course
for
the
powerful
to
control
the
network,
and
it
becomes
blatantly
obvious
that
Ethereum
is
destined
to
fail,
even
from
a
regulatory
standpoint
if
it
comes
down
to
that.
It’s
quipped
that
if
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commisson
(SEC)
calls
and
someone
is
on
the
other
end
to
answer,
it’s
centralized.
It’s
also
true
that
Ethereum
has
had
a
certain
level
of
past
success
in
fee
generation
and
more
expressive
use
cases
like
non-fungible
tokens
(NFTs)
and
meme
coins.
Yet
when
we
compare
the
slow
and
steady
march
of
Bitcoin
in
these
categories,
it
is
also
clear
that
Ethereum
is
losing
the
battle.
And,
of
course,
the
markets
don’t
lie.
Fee
fi
fo
FUD
One
key
topic
of
FUD
fear,
uncertainty
and
doubt
regarding
Bitcoin
is
its
long
term
security
model.
Mainly,
that
there
won’t
be
sufficient
fees
to
incentivize
miners
to
continue
mining
blocks
over
time
as
the
block
subsidy
reduces
asymptotically
until
some
time
in
the
2100s.
This
argument
went
out
the
door
this
year.
Multiple
times,
we
have
seen
transaction
fee
rewards
outperform
mining
subsidies
and
just
this
past
week,
we
saw
fees
double
the
block
reward.
And
we’re
still
early
in
the
overall
halving
schedule
of
BTC
as
a
protocol.
Inscriptions,
whether
you
hate
them
or
love
them,
have
helped
jumpstart
a
fee
war,
comprising
21%
of
all
fees
year
to
date.
While
it’s
true
that
inscriptions
have
helped
ignite
a
competitive
transaction
fee
environment
(the
peak
of
the
Inscription
craze
in
May
was
$18M),
regular
daily
transaction
fees
have
amounted
to
$13
million.
Even
the
meme
coin
mania
previously
seen
on
Ethereum
has
migrated
over
to
Bitcoin.
Back
in
May,
BRC-20
—
a
new
token
standard
using
the
Ordinals
protocol
—
brought
bitcoin
transaction
fees
to
its
highest
level
in
two
years
at
the
time.
It
must
be
again
mentioned
that
some
purists
of
the
“transaction
purpose”
Bitcoin
network
view
this
activity
as
spam
on
the
network
as
its
only
“true”
utility
is
in
propagating
only
BTC
transaction
data.
As
a
mining
sector
participant,
I
think
it’s
naive
to
believe
that
the
market
won’t
push
a
technology
to
the
one
that
is
supported
and
adopted
by
the
most
users.
Providing
a
truly
sustainable
economic
model
to
support
the
mining
industry
into
perpetuity
is
the
right
outcome.
This
year,
Bitcoin
was
a
gravitational
force
in
bringing
NFT
enthusiasts
over
from
Ethereum
and
other
L1s
thanks
to
Ordinals
and
BRC-20
tokens.
Once
heralded
as
one
of
the
preeminent
use
cases
for
Ethereum
and
a
competitive
edge,
NFTs
on
Ethereum
have
begun
a
slow
descent.
For
instance,
the
largest
NFT
platform
on
Ethereum,
OpenSea,
is
down
98.5%
in
volume
since
its
highs.
In
comparison,
Ordinals
drove
adoption
of
Bitcoin
NFTs.
In
fact,
Galaxy
Research
estimates
that
the
market
size
of
Bitcoin
NFTs
will
reach
$4.5
billion
by
2025.
This
research
and
the
growth
of
usage
of
the
Bitcoin
protocol
for
new
use
cases
have
the
potential
to
bring
an
end
to
the
centralized
network
of
Ethereum.
Bitcoin
on
the
international,
geopolitical
stage
The
real
problem
worth
solving
here
is
money,
and
Bitcoin
is
winning
by
most
metrics,
including
institutional
and
nation
state
adoption.
El
Salvador
adopted
bitcoin
as
legal
tender
and
has
been
using
it
as
a
way
to
turn
its
country
around
into
a
prosperous
nation.
Just
recently
President
Nayib
Bukele
received
regulatory
approval
to
launch
his
bitcoin-backed
“volcano
bond”
in
2024.
Javier
Milei,
the
libertarian
president
of
Argentina
who
was
recently
sworn
in,
is
also
a
proponent
of
Bitcoin.
He
has
previously
stated
that
“bitcoin
represents
a
return
of
money
to
its
creator:
the
private
sector,”
and
it
is
rumored
that
Argentina
might
be
the
next
large
nation
to
adopt
a
bitcoin
standard.
Bhutan
has
been
quietly
mining
bitcoin.
Oman
made
a
$1.1
billion
investment
on
bitcoin
mining
infrastructure,
and
other
powerful
countries
are
expressing
interest/investment
in
Bitcoin.
In
the
West,
we
have
even
seen
presidential
candidates
like
Robert
F.
Kennedy
Jr.
and
Vivek
Ramaswamy
implore
the
benefits
of
bitcoin
as
a
solution
to
the
loose
money
policies
that
have
eroded
the
very
fabric
of
society.
With
spot
bitcoin
ETFs
right
around
the
corner
as
well,
it’s
obvious
that
no
matter
what
angle
you
look
at
Bitcoin
from,
it
is
clearly
beginning
to
enter
a
new
phase
of
global
adoption.
Looking
ahead
to
2024
What
people
should
think
about
more
than
anything
is
that
Bitcoin
is
integral
to
a
decentralized,
prosperous
and
fair
future
for
all,
and
anything
else
that
claims
to
be
a
better
alternative,
like
Ethereum,
could
be
considered
a
DDOS
attack.
At
the
end
of
the
day,
a
truly
decentralized
and
sound
monetary
network
will
eat
the
lunch
of
a
preminded,
centralized
alternative
any
day.
As
the
halving
approaches
and
adoption
increases,
it
will
be
increasingly
clear
in
2024
that
as
Michael
Saylor
often
says:
“there
is
no
second
best.”
