30s Summary

StarkWare CEO Eli Ben Sasson anticipates a major shift in the Bitcoin network following the forthcoming OP_CAT upgrade, which he discussed at Devcon 2024 in Thailand. This upgrade will include new features like covenants, ZK-rollups, and layer 2 networks, allowing Starknet to be the first layer-2 network to work directly with both Bitcoin and Ethereum. OP_CAT, which stands for “operation code concatenate,” will improve Bitcoin’s functionality and efficiency. It had been previously removed over security concerns but is being reintroduced through a soft fork. This feature may also enhance Bitcoin’s decentralized finance activities, surpassing Ethereum.

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CEO of StarkWare, Eli Ben Sasson, is anticipating a big change in the Bitcoin network with the OP_CAT upgrade due to launch within the year. He chatted about it at Devcon 2024 in Thailand, explaining that it will bring along a lot of new features for Bitcoin including “covenants, ZK-rollups and layer 2 networks.”

A cool part about this update is that Starknet will be the first layer-2 network to work directly with both Bitcoin and Ethereum.

It’s worth noting that OP_CAT may sound rather complicated, with lots of possible upgrades in the works for Bitcoin. However, according to Ben-Sasson, the idea behind it is pretty straightforward. He compares Bitcoin to an old scientific calculator that’s capable of carrying out a load of calculations. OP_CAT is basically like adding an extra button to this calculator, which then allows it to combine or merge together two strings of characters. The ultimate goal here is to make Bitcoin’s operations more functional and efficient.

OP_CAT, standing for “operation code concatenate”, was initially introduced into the Bitcoin network by Satoshi Nakamoto. However, he removed it later due to concerns about security risks. This was part of a larger effort to simplify the Bitcoin system and make it more robust. In October 2023, cryptographer Ethan Heilman and engineer Armin Sabouri decided to bring OP_CAT back into play, suggesting it be reintroduced into the network through a soft fork.

According to Ben-Sasson, the objective of integrating OP_CAT with StarkWare’s Bitcoin layer 2 venture is to help Bitcoin fulfill its initial objective and purpose. Just imagine being able to use Bitcoin as a payment network for buying everyday items like coffee, without the current high transaction fees!

Additionally, some experts have highlighted that the introduction of OP_CAT could potentially push Bitcoin to level up beyond Ethereum in terms of decentralized finance activities and volumes.

Do note that while Bitcoin “sidechains” are growing in number and often categorised as Bitcoin L2s, they are not exactly the same as true layer-2 networks because they don’t deal directly with the Bitcoin network. This means, some security and innovation concerns still exist which begs the question if Bitcoin OGs will put their idle Bitcoin to these “sidechains”. Only time will tell!