As blockchain applications have taken off, one question has taken center stage: Do we build a completely new system or do we build on top of the existing system? Not surprisingly, many developers have gone with the latter. This is because other than the relative ease that comes with the option, it’s also easier to attract users.
However, a new school of thought is emerging that advocates for a complete overhaul of the system. Recently, Unwriter launched Bottle, the first native Bitcoin browser globally. Bottle is capable of surfing anything saved on the BSV blockchain, from text to Javascript and CSS. While he could have built on top of the existing systems, he explained why he didn’t:
“The thing is, Bitcoin is NOT “the next web”. In many ways, it’s completely the opposite of what the WWW is, which is why Bitcoin is so powerful. That’s why it’s more beneficial to start from scratch instead of forking an existing full-fledged browser built for the existing WWW, with many legacy features that can constrain future directions.”
And Bottle isn’t the only cutting-edge solution being developed on the Bitcoin SV network. BSV developers are rethinking the internet, and rightly so. In its current format, the internet is skewed for the big tech firms. With Bitcoin Core (BTC) having started out with so much promise, over the years it has veered off from its original path.
As George Siosi explained in a recent blog post, social media is the first field that the new revolution will disrupt first. Social media networks are built around the idea of small world networks. This is a concept that states that most nodes in a network are not neighbors, but they can be reached from each other by a small number of hops or steps.
As Siosi explained, social media giants such as Facebook and Snapchat are now turning to building communities centered on the concept of small world networks. While initially, they focused on expanding your social circle, they are now converging their users into small intimate circles.
This creates a sense of community. As the ever-so-insightful Dr. Craig Wright stated, “It is not open platforms people seek but rather closed personal groups and communication with people in a way that allows them to build trust over time. People need to be able to decide what they will consider public, private, or even somewhere in between.”
With time, developers have come to recognize Bitcoin, not just as currency, but a system on which we can build rebuild most of the applications we currently use. And its advantages over the current systems are inexhaustible. It guarantees its users their identity, protects copyright and prevents misinformation.
Siosi concludes:
“Now, we haven’t even covered how communities have formed around Bitcoin (as an idea) itself, but if we wish to truly innovate, we must discard all that we think we know. We must start from scratch, but with lessons learned from the past.”
New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeek’s Bitcoin for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoin—as originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto—and blockchain.