Bitcoin and Ethereum have long been the two most-popular cryptocurrencies in the market. While Bitcoin has remained top of the charts, for most of the time, Ethereum has been the cryptocurrency following it. This, despite the fact that a number of altcoins have taken a jab at ETH’s position over the years. Spoiler – None have survived for long.
Due to ETH’s persistence, the community is also massive. Hence, it is obvious that communities would compare each others’ coins, network effects, etc. It is no surprise then that the debate/fight between BTC and ETH is also a longstanding one.
In today’s debate, the topic of contention is simple, mundane, yet unclear – whether Bitcoin is on Ethereum or not. Although the debate in question had seemingly diverted away from the topic at press time, the same was reignited by Peter McCormack’s latest tweet.
There is no Bitcoin on Ethereum.
— Peter McCormack (@PeterMcCormack) September 19, 2020
Now, McCormack has long claimed to have a mind open enough to understand and learn about other altcoins, despite being a Bitcoin proponent himself. While many have attacked him for his tweet, it does make sense because, obviously, Bitcoin is not on Ethereum. Neither of them exists on each other’s, but on their own, separate blockchains.
Before we get into the debate, it should be known that Bitcoin, as an ERC token, ergo on the ETH blockchain, has been on the rise lately. For argument’s sake, the total number of Bitcoin on Ethereum, as of press time, was worth $1 billion aka 106k BTC.
Although the total BTC locked on ETH has exceeded 100k, there are different tokens like WBTC, rBTC, hBTC, tBTC, etc. and each token varies in build and construction. The common argument that can be made here is that none of the Bitcoins are really on ETH because, in fact, they are just IoUs.
Bitcoin developer Luke DashJr, however, was one of the many to disagree, after he tweeted,
“I don’t agree. Bitcoins can be on Ethereum in the same way they’re on exchanges, Liquid. etc”
Ethereum folks were quick to pitch in to, with many happy about Bitcoin finally finding its way to the Ethereum blockchain.
Fuck microstrategy, Ethereum is the world’s largest purchaser of BTC https://t.co/SYyRTpIhsl
— DavidHoffman.eth ? (@TrustlessState) September 15, 2020
Interestingly, while a majority of the Bitcoin and Ethereum communities were arguing about what is right and what is the right terminology, Vitalik Buterin, Founder of Ethereum, came forward to discuss a far-fetched idea. An idea where miners could, in the near future, soft fork Bitcoin and “reject withdrawals from Bitcoin-side addresses that do not have valid corresponding initiation orders on the Ethereum side.”
Needless to say, this was the latest cannon fire in the ongoing battle between Bitcoin and Ethereum.