A glimpse into the future of Bitcoin

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

In the ever-tumultuous world of Bitcoin, 2024 stands as a year of reckoning. For years, there has been a massive build-up to a great many things that will come to a head in 2024!

Since 2012, I have been on a journey to understand Bitcoin as deeply as I can because I believe that someday, the world will run on Bitcoin, and we will all be better for it. I’m sure my predictions for how Bitcoin would have played out would be laughable in hindsight, but I will never feel guilty for being a hardworking optimist—even if my optimism has outpaced my talents so far.

As CoinGeek’s Chief Bitcoin Historian since 2020, I have witnessed the rollercoaster ride of BTC and BSV since the last halving, observing the stark contrasts and ideological battles that define our space.

Here’s my take on 2024:

The Small vs. Big Blocker feud continues

This feud is the heart of Bitcoin’s existential crisis. BTC, in its quest for a high-fee, low-velocity utopia, has paradoxically strangled its utility with the very ropes it crafted to save itself: alleged node decentralization. Small blockers, clinging to their dogmatic principles, resist any notion of practical scalability, leading to a blockchain that’s about as useful as a chocolate teapot, which would make for a funny Ordinals collection subject… But the lines blurred heavily in 2023 with Ordinal inscriptions creating a nomadic class that was comfortable using BTC and BSV wherever appropriate, and that has started to stir up the whispers of another civil war in BTC.

Why does your tweets sound exactly the same as Kurt Wuckert?

I know you guys were pumping ordinals together, but maybe time to stop copying his memes and rhetoric?

— hodlonaut (@hodlonaut) July 21, 2023

Meanwhile, BSV marches on, championing the vision Satoshi laid out: a free and open world where Bitcoin’s utility isn’t just theoretical, and your business ideas are as real and welcome as you can make them!

Ordinal inscriptions: A double-edged sword in 2024

The growth of Ordinal inscriptions on BTC and BSV is fascinating yet alarming. On the one hand, it showcased the blockchain’s versatility beyond simple transactions and brought new life to UTXO-based chains. But on the other, BTC Ordinals muddied the water on the unique strengths of BSV by showing that there is value to putting data on chain, so BTC’s Ordinals creates a new competitor for BSV businesses despite the BTC identity crisis—a network torn between being digital gold and a platform for expensive, digital doodles.

In BSV’s camp, we have created billions of new UTXOs with 1Sat Ordinals in 2023 and pressure-tested the network with them. In 2024, I think we will see the BSV-20 fungible token standard mature and the launch of real businesses and real-world assets using the open protocols of BSV while the small blockers continue to bicker about their precious block space.

Teranode: BSV’s ace in the hole

2024 is a landmark year for BSV with the launch of Teranode. It’s not just a technological leap; it’s a paradigm shift. Imagine processing millions of transactions per second by completely re-engineering every aspect of node function. This will not just be impressive; it will be revolutionary.

As part of GorillaPool, I’m buzzing with excitement about our involvement in Teranode for personal reasons, too. The old Teranode team was a black hole from whence information never leaked. The new team (assembled in 2023) has been fun to work with, and I am personally looking forward to being one of the very first companies on earth to test-drive the software and build new record-breaking blocks!

The Halvening: A crucible for Bitcoin’s economy

And Teranode couldn’t have come at a better time… The halving is more than a scheduled event; it’s a crucible for Bitcoin’s economy. As the block reward subsidy halves like an ever-ticking time bomb, the pressure mounts on the network to derive value solely from transactions. This is where BSV’s approach shines. By focusing on utility and scalability, BSV is singularly focused and gearing up for a future where microtransactions aren’t just feasible; but where they are the lubricant of the future digital economy.

BSV is poised not just to survive but to thrive in this new economic landscape while other blockchains realize the folly of resting on their reputations for the last several years.

Regulations

The “crypto” economy has been turbulent since the beginning. At best, it has been a network of petty crooks traversing gray market bucket shops in hopes of catching rockets, and at worst, it has been shadow banking for terrorism, murder, and human trafficking.

2024 will be the first full year where places like Binance will have U.S. regulators operating inside their walls, so I expect to see classically criminal behavior heavily blunted, which means shocking gains will be quite a bit less likely as market makers and the “Tetheral Reserve” printing press have to behave under new scrutiny. The crackdown on rogue players has been a cleansing fire, burning away the dross that has tarnished the industry.

As companies like Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) and Kraken face the music for their questionable practices, we’re reminded that adherence to law and order isn’t optional; it’s fundamental, and in 2024, I think we might start to see some very real professionalization of the industry as the crooks have largely run out of places to hide.

Enterprise Blockchain: A beacon of hope

This one is both the most rickety and the most hopeful. At some point, enterprise use of blockchain will be the biggest driver of the year. Will it be 2024? It could be… But I think I have said that in previous years, too. From supply chain management to healthcare data security or corporate cybersecurity management, blockchain’s practical applications are coming to the forefront.

There are hundreds of massive applications where only BSV can perform, and there are great brands doing the work necessary to bring them to market.

In 2024, I would love to see Certihash acquire new customers, UNISOT lands a real whale, or one of the nChain clients hit the mainstream. Enterprises are waking up to the potential of blockchain, and BSV is leading the charge, but this has been the slowest-moving freight train in the BSV economy so far. Let’s see if 2024 can be a landmark year in enterprise!

AI and the blockchain: A synergistic future

2024 will see artificial intelligence (AI) continue to make waves. 2023 felt like the hockey-stick adoption year for ChatGPT, Dalle, MidJourney, and specialized AI algorithms for all kinds of white-collar work. We even saw lots of blockchain industry fundraising make its way to the AI sector instead.

But the industry will soon realize that AI needs guardrails, and blockchain offers exactly what AI needs for data management. The marriage of AI and blockchain, particularly on BSV’s scalable network, opens up new frontiers of possibilities. From more accurate large-language models to efficient data processing, the synergy is undeniable, and we will see progress on this front in 2024.

Dr. Craig Wright

My longtime readers and viewers of the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream will know I don’t like talking about individual people. I don’t think BSV is about Craig, and I don’t think his successes or failures are shared with the future of BSV—necessarily. However, he deserves a ton of credit for sticking to his guns over the years on bitcoin’s scalability, and the world records set to date. As the launch of Teranode in 2024 draws closer, these are moments to toast to Dr. Wright, and I think the year will be vindicating his vision for Bitcoin.

Looking ahead: A year of transformation

2024 is not just another year in the calendar. It’s a watershed moment for Bitcoin and blockchain technology. From the halvening’s economic pressures to the paradigm shift ushered in by Teranode, we’re on the cusp of a transformation. BSV, true to Satoshi’s vision, is leading the charge, and I’m thrilled to be part of this journey. I will be in London for some of the trials, and again for the London Blockchain Conference in May, and I look forward to seeing our economy continue to grow and professionalize in 2024!

As we look ahead, let’s remember: in the world of Bitcoin, it’s not just about surviving, hodl, and predictions; it’s about hard work and thriving with purpose.

Happy New Year!

Watch: Seasons greeting from Calvin Ayre! 2024 will be pivotal for Enterprise Blockchain adoption