Bitcoin May Utilize Ethereum's VM to Unlock Full Potential: BitVM Plan

By: Isha Das

It has been argued that Bitcoin's full potential could be unlocked by integrating it with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which would provide it with access to a host of real-world assets. This notion has been endorsed by Willem Schroe, the founder of cross-chain infrastructure firm, Botanix Labs, who believes it essential for Bitcoin to enter the EVM world to increase its adoption and utility.

Botanix Labs' project, Spiderchain, is designed to link the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems by executing EVM to EVM bridges enabling Bitcoin's interaction with the EVM. Unlike wrapped Bitcoin, Spiderchain seeks to avoid censorship and regulatory scrutiny by relying on a decentralized multsig mechanism instead of being operated by a centralized entity like BitGo.

A parallel proposition known as BitVM, which aims at enabling Ethereum-like optimistic rollup smart contracts on the Bitcoin network, is another approach towards incorporating Ethereum functionality within Bitcoin. This proposal, contrary to Spiderchain, would necessitate a soft fork of Bitcoin similar to the Taproot soft fork that underpinned the creation of NFT-mirroring Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens.

Views diverge on the desirable extent of Bitcoin's ecosystem expansion. Notables, such as Cory Klippsten, CEO of Swan Bitcoin, and Saifedean Ammous, author of 'The Bitcoin Standard,' resist the idea, perceiving it as an invitation to scams or arguing that Bitcoin as 'good money' suffices. Nevertheless, Schroe considers the consolidation of Bitcoin and Ethereum to be a potential ground for spawning a range of decentralized, secure applications.