Rootstock | Bringing the Ethereum Virtual Machine to Bitcoin

04/12/24 • 45 min

Rootstock Chief Scientist, Sergio Demian Lerner, regards the upcoming Bitcoin halving is a moment of celebration for the community and highlights the importance of transaction fees for the sustainability of the network.

This episode is sponsored by the Stellar Community Fund

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In this installment of "The Protocol," hosts Brad Keoun, the founding editor of The Protocol Newsletter, and tech journalists Sam Kessler and Margaux Nijkerk, dive into

are joined by Sergio Demian Lerner, Chief Scientist at Rootstock, to discuss his research on the Patoshi pattern and the early mining of Bitcoin. He explains how he identified that Satoshi Nakamoto had mined approximately 1.1 million Bitcoins and had never spent them, which built trust in the system. Sergio also shares his insights on the upcoming Bitcoin halving and the importance of transaction fees for the sustainability of the network.

Takeaways

Sergio Demian Lerner identified the Patoshi pattern, which revealed that Satoshi Nakamoto had mined approximately 1.1 million Bitcoins and had never spent them, building trust in the system.
The upcoming Bitcoin halving is a moment of celebration for the community and highlights the importance of transaction fees for the sustainability of the network.
Rootstock aims to bring the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to Bitcoin and focuses on financial inclusion and the use of Bitcoin collateralized stablecoins.
The cultures of Ethereum and Bitcoin differ in terms of complexity, centralization, and fragmentation, with Ethereum being more open and welcoming to developers.
The introduction of BitBM and the development of bridges on Bitcoin may lead to changes in the Bitcoin ecosystem, such as the addition of new opcodes for more efficient operations.

Chapters

00:00 Uncovering the Patoshi Pattern

13:51 Rootstock: Bringing the EVM to Bitcoin

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EPISODE LINKS |

Polygon Acquires Ethereum Scaling Startup Mir for $400M

Polygon Plans 'AggLayer,' in Bid to Synthesize Modular, Monolithic Blockchains

Polygon Releases 'Type 1 Prover,' Claiming Milestone Set by Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin

Polygon, StarkWare Tout New 'Circle STARKs' as Breakthrough for Zero-Knowledge Proofs

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The Protocol has been produced and edited by senior producer Michele Musso and our executive producer is Jared Schwartz. Our theme song is “Take Me Back” by Strength To Last.

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This episode is sponsored by the Stellar Community Fund

Follow the show here for more.

In this installment of "The Protocol," hosts Brad Keoun, the founding editor of The Protocol Newsletter, and tech journalists Sam Kessler and Margaux Nijkerk, dive into

Takeaways

Sergio Demian Lerner identified the Patoshi pattern, which revealed that Satoshi Nakamoto had mined approximately 1.1 million Bitcoins and had never spent them, building trust in the system.
The upcoming Bitcoin halving is a moment of celebration for the community and highlights the importance of transaction fees for the sustainability of the network.
Rootstock aims to bring the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to Bitcoin and focuses on financial inclusion and the use of Bitcoin collateralized stablecoins.
The cultures of Ethereum and Bitcoin differ in terms of complexity, centralization, and fragmentation, with Ethereum being more open and welcoming to developers.
The introduction of BitBM and the development of bridges on Bitcoin may lead to changes in the Bitcoin ecosystem, such as the addition of new opcodes for more efficient operations.

Chapters

00:00 Uncovering the Patoshi Pattern

13:51 Rootstock: Bringing the EVM to Bitcoin

Sign Up for THE PROTOCOL NEWSLETTER

EPISODE LINKS |

Polygon Acquires Ethereum Scaling Startup Mir for $400M

Polygon Plans 'AggLayer,' in Bid to Synthesize Modular, Monolithic Blockchains

Polygon Releases 'Type 1 Prover,' Claiming Milestone Set by Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin

Polygon, StarkWare Tout New 'Circle STARKs' as Breakthrough for Zero-Knowledge Proofs

From Our Sponsor:

Apply for Funding at communityfund.stellar.org

The Protocol has been produced and edited by senior producer Michele Musso and our executive producer is Jared Schwartz. Our theme song is “Take Me Back” by Strength To Last.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Previous Episode

Polygon | Building a Unified Environment for Value and Liquidity

Brendan Farmer, Co-Founder of Polygon, gives an overview of Polygon's Ecosystem and its adoption and benefits of the Ag Layer.

This episode is sponsored by the Stellar Community Fund

Follow the show here for more.

In this installment of "The Protocol," hosts Brad Keoun, the founding editor of The Protocol Newsletter, and tech journalists Sam Kessler and Margaux Nijkerk, dive into

the strategy and vision behind the Ag layer, which aims to solve the problem of L2 fragmentation on Ethereum with Brendan Farmer Co-Founder of Polygon.

Polygon is focused on building a unified environment for value, liquidity, and state in the Ethereum ecosystem. The Ag layer connects different mini-ecosystems within Polygon and allows chains to plug into the liquidity and value that already exists.

Takeaways

Polygon's strategy is to build a unified environment for value, liquidity, and state in the Ethereum ecosystem.
The Ag layer connects different mini-ecosystems within Polygon and allows chains to plug into existing liquidity and value.
The Ag layer includes a builder marketplace where builders can simultaneously build blocks across multiple chains, providing users with a seamless experience.
The goal is to create a positive-sum outcome for all chains involved and avoid fragmentation in the ecosystem.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction

01:19 Polygon's Strategy and Tech Shift

06:50 Analogies for Understanding the Ag Layer

07:26 Adoption and Benefits of the Ag Layer

09:36 Overview of Polygon's Ecosystem

10:54 Polygon Today: POS Chain and ZKVM Chain

12:28 Polygon's Technological Innovations

14:35 POS Chain and the Future of Polygon

19:42 The Ag Layer as a Connector

22:02 Competition and Collaboration in the Industry

23:36 Avoiding Fragmentation and Rent-Seeking

25:23 The Challenge of Monetizing Users in Crypto

27:44 The Builder Marketplace and Block Building

28:16 MEV and the Ag Layer

32:16 Addressing Outages and Ensuring Stability

34:44 Precautions and Warnings for Users

38:27 The Eigen Layer and L2 Vision

40:17 The Den Koon Upgrade and the Blob Market

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EPISODE LINKS |

Polygon Acquires Ethereum Scaling Startup Mir for $400M

Polygon Plans 'AggLayer,' in Bid to Synthesize Modular, Monolithic Blockchains

Polygon Releases 'Type 1 Prover,' Claiming Milestone Set by Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin

Polygon, StarkWare Tout New 'Circle STARKs' as Breakthrough for Zero-Knowledge Proofs

From Our Sponsor:

Apply for Funding at communityfund.stellar.org

The Protocol has been produced and edited by senior producer Michele Musso and our executive producer is Jared Schwartz. Our theme song is “Take Me Back” by Strength To Last.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Priv...

Next Episode

Runes | A Degenerate Casino on the Bitcoin Blockchain Creative

Runes and Ordinals ‘Artist’ Creator, Casey Rodarmor has just invented two of the most dramatically impactful protocols in the blockchain industry's history and embraces cryptocurrency's speculative and gambling nature.

This episode is sponsored by the Stellar Community Fund

Follow the show here for more.

In this installment of "The Protocol," hosts Brad Keoun, the founding editor of The Protocol Newsletter, and tech journalists Sam Kessler and Margaux Nijkerk,

are joined by Casey Rodarmor to discuss the launch of Runes, a protocol on the Bitcoin blockchain that allows users to create and trade meme coins. Casey expresses skepticism about the usability of layer two solutions and the potential for stablecoins on Bitcoin.

Takeaways |

Casey Rotemar believes that many projects in the crypto space make false claims about utility and are ultimately worthless.
Runes embraces the speculative and gambling nature of cryptocurrency, positioning itself as a degenerate casino.
Casey discusses the potential regulatory concerns and the ability of Bitcoin to withstand a nation-state attack. Bugs were found before the launch of Runes and Ordinals, including a divide-by-zero bug and issues with high-fee transactions and the mint logic.
Getting Bitcoin soft forks adopted can be challenging, but there are new BIP editors who are helping to merge proposals and improve the process.
Casey is skeptical about the usability of layer two solutions and believes that developing on top of Bitcoin without modifying the base layer is often the best approach.
There is potential for stablecoins on Bitcoin, but Casey is unsure if there is enough market demand for them.
The names of some of the runes created by the community can be offensive, but there are also creative and funny names emerging.
Casey is interested in developing a file-sharing protocol unrelated to blockchain or cryptocurrency, with a focus on improving the user experience.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

05:58 Runes: A Degenerate Casino on the Bitcoin Blockchain

13:58 Bitcoin's Strengths and Ethereum's Weaknesses

27:58 Bugs and Challenges Before the Launch

35:26 The Potential for Stablecoins on Bitcoin

41:59 Creative and Offensive Rune Names

49:57 Developing a User-Friendly File-Sharing Protocol

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From Our Sponsor:

Apply for Funding at communityfund.stellar.org

The Protocol has been produced and edited by senior producer Michele Musso and our executive producer is Jared Schwartz. Our theme song is “Take Me Back” by Strength To Last.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.