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“There’s no absolute certainty about what will happen in the future, and you can’t account for everything. We need the ability to adjust to what occurs,” nChain’s Sebastian Plötzeneder says. This makes nLocktime a critical feature for Bitcoin, allowing users to alter smart contracts to account for these changes.

Plötzeneder, the senior strategy manager at nChain, was at the fourth The Bitcoin Masterclasses in London, where Dr. Craig Wright talked nLocktime and its applications in the real world.

Speaking to CoinGeek Backstage reporter Becky Liggero, Plötzeneder says he has been working with Dr. Wright for years as an editor for his website. Dr. Wright uses the website to break down Bitcoin, economics, mathematics, philosophy, and more in “a more digestible form.” The Masterclasses are an extension of this mission, Plötzeneder says.

nLocktime is an oft-misunderstood and underutilized feature that allows Bitcoin users to account for unforeseen changes.

“People will try and account for every possible outcome, but there needs to be an out allowing users to adjust to what occurs,” he said.

nLocktime is especially important in addressing legal matters. Satoshi designed Bitcoin to operate within the law, contrary to the anti-establishment rhetoric peddled by BTCers. As such, nLocktime allows users to account for legal decisions and alter smart contracts as needed.

Plötzeneder noted that despite popular belief, smart contracts predate Ethereum and were designed by Satoshi on the original Bitcoin protocol. And while Ethereum has its fair share of deployed smart contracts, the recent upgrade to proof of stake proved that its protocol isn’t stable. This, Plötzeneder says, goes against the ethos of smart contracts, which require a stable protocol.

The Bitcoin Masterclasses are a departure from the presentation model, with Dr. Wright engaging more with his audience in a lecture format. Plötzeneder believes this is the format that suits Satoshi the most as he has always been a teacher at heart.

“You can see Craig was really in his element today. If there’s one way of capturing all the different things that Craig’s able to do, it would be to say he’s a great teacher.”

Watch: nLockTime and other solutions on BTC—what’s the difference?

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