Expert explains the need to integrate Bitcoin with the EVM

Mass adoption of Bitcoin will not happen until the Bitcoin blockchain is connected to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). That view was voiced by Willem Shroe, head of Botanix Labs, in an interview with Cointelegraph.

The integration would provide the Bitcoin network with a gateway to a multitude of real assets moved on-chain. The EVM will also offer digital gold new use cases to boost its adoption and usefulness, according to the founder of the Web3 firm.

“Bitcoin is the most technologically secure and truly decentralized protocol, and the EVM has proven itself as the application layer of the global financial system,” said Shroe.

According to him, while Bitcoin is typically used as a peer-to-peer payment system or as a store of value, its potential will not be realized without connection to a broader financial ecosystem such as securities markets or exchange-traded commodities.

Connecting Bitcoin to real assets based on Ethereum, stablecoins, NFTs and DeFi through the EVM will be the first step in this direction, the expert believes.

“There is a huge amount of value and development waiting for its time,” he said.

Earlier, Botanix Labs unveiled the concept of an EVM-compatible layer-2 network Spiderchain based on Bitcoin. The community’s attention to the solution was drawn by Casa CTO and co-founder Jameson Lopp.

Spiderchain operates as a sidechain, uses the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, staking and smart contracts. The protocol comprises several layers, with the base blockchain serving as the settlement layer.

Shroe believes that existing Bitcoin EVM-compatibility solutions, including wrapped versions of the coin, are problematic, susceptible to censorship and control by centralized organisations and authorities.

The introduction of Ethereum functionality into the Bitcoin blockchain is also expected to be implemented via the so-called drivechains. The concept is being implemented as discussed in the community BIP-300.

Unlike Spiderchain, implementing this improvement will require a network soft fork.

On October 9, ZeroSync co-founder Robin Linus published a paper titled “BitVM: Compute Anything on Bitcoin”. In it, the developer presented mechanism for expanding the capabilities of smart contracts in the network, also without the need for an upgrade.

The creator of BIP-300, Paul Stork, argues that among other benefits the proposal will unlock new use cases for digital gold in privacy and scaling.

So far at @tabconf:

* Many pro Bip300 — popular usecases are Privacy, Scaling, and experimentation (get new OP codes now)
* Very popular question is: when is my debate with Peter Todd (Friday at 2 PM)
* Many complained about off-base Twitter dialog and nonsense propaganda
*…

— Paul Sztorc (@Truthcoin) September 7, 2023

Swan CEO Cory Klippsten believes, that drivechain-like solutions that bring other assets onto the blockchain lead to an influx of fraudsters. This has attracted regulators’ attention, the expert added.

Saifedean Ammous, author of The Bitcoin Standard, also spoke out against the idea of issuing altcoins on the blockchain of digital gold. He contends that “good money” is the only token needed.

People only think tokens are a good idea because we live in a world of broken money. A good money is the only token anyone ever needs. Bitcoin is going to detokenize the world. https://t.co/q8Nhc7XcOX

— Saifedean Ammous (@saifedean) August 28, 2023

Nevertheless, Shroe is confident that connecting the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks can create a new set of applications with decentralization and security as core principles.

“The EVM is the winning virtual machine, and Bitcoin is the best money,” he concluded.

Fidelity have concluded that digital gold is the most secure, decentralized and scarce cryptocurrency in the world.