TL; DR
Full story
12 lines of code.
Apparently that’s all it takes…
12 lines of code, and…BOOM!
Some of Ethereum’s most popular features can easily be copied by Bitcoin.
The point is: this is not new! In fact, this code used to be part of Bitcoin… but was removed by none other than Satoshi Nakamotobecause he/she (they?) believed it exposed the network to massive security flaws.
And now three developers want to add this code, known as ‘OP_CAT’, back in.
There are pros and cons to the proposal – so let’s rip off the band-aid – starting with…
Cons:
OP_CAT was removed from Bitcoin’s core code by Satoshi, as they believed it opened the network to distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
Imagine if someone could remotely open more than 1000 browser tabs on your computer, every second (the thing damn near melted!).
DDoS attacks work in a similar way: the basic goal is to overwhelm the Bitcoin network with so much traffic that it is forced to shut down.
Pros:
The Bitcoin community is extremely loyal when it comes to changing/updating Bitcoin’s core code. So this isn’t going to happen if it can’t be done safely.
Now, as it can be done safely – Bitcoin is about to get really bad Ethereum-y.
Confused? This is what that means:
Right now, sending transactions with Bitcoin is like driving an armored tank to work every day – sure, it is super safe…but it’s also slow and incredibly expensive.
OP_CAT would allow Ethereum-style layer 2 to be easily built on Bitcoin – which would be akin to trading the armored tank for a 1999 Toyota Corolla.
(That is, faster and cheaper).
Additionally, Ethereum-style platforms such as decentralized exchanges (or even file hosting) would become much easier to build/deploy on Bitcoin.
Sounds interesting. Let’s see if the BTC community will allow it!