Although the Bitcoin network is not programmable, it serves as a great computational layer to build reliable applications on top of, says CEO Hiro Alex Miller.
Hiro provides Bitcoin development tools to developers who can use the Stacks blockchain. Miller said that packets inherit the security of the Bitcoin network through a consensus mechanism called Proof of Transfer (although this is a controversial claim for some).
Miller told Cointelegraph that the value proposition behind creating software over Bitcoin is that it is “a well-established, well-accepted, and highly reliable settlement level.”
He added that because of this, building a blockchain is much easier compared to most other smart contract platforms that perform computations and computations at the same level:
“When you have both your leveling and your leveling on the same layer, that really complicates things in a lot of ways. […] You don’t want to change your leveling layer too much.”
This allows developers to “innovate faster” at level 2, which “has more powerful potential”.
Miller argued that we should not be surprised that developers are making Bitcoin programmable, because this is exactly what Satoshi Nakamoto envisioned:
“Satoshi himself wrote in 2010, 2011 that he expected additional layers [and] additional strings to be built on top of that to allow for all this programmability.”
Miller said the Stacks developer ecosystem has grown rapidly since the platform was launched in January 2021: “We have hundreds of developers working on the ecosystem and thousands of smart contracts and apps deployed on it.”
In its first year of launch, Blockchain Stack has generated more than 350 million API requests per month, 40,000 downloads for the Hiro wallet, and deployed 2,500 Clarity smart contracts, with numbers set to rise further in 2022.
Miller also said that we will live in a “multi-chain future” where no specific smart contract platform will ever make decisions. “Ethereum will be around for at least some time, but there are many other smart contract platforms that haven’t stood the test of time yet,” he said.
Related: Stacks’ Mitchell Cuevas Talks to Build Integrated DeFi Bridges for Bitcoin Users
Regarding where the cryptocurrency market is headed, Miller said that crypto volatility will decrease as crypto applications become “accepted, integrated, and used in our society,” adding:
“By bringing programmability and smart contracts to Bitcoin, it also promotes the adoption of Bitcoin as a technology and financial layer in our society, thereby reducing volatility and increasing its price in the long run.”
