The main selling point of systems like Ethereum and EOS is their ability to execute smart contracts, at least according to the supporters of those projects. To them, Bitcoin is simply too limited and conservative, and new approaches are needed to unlock the true power of blockchain technology.
Of course, this is not technically true. While Bitcoin’s scripting language is much less expressive than Ethereum’s (for example), it’s possible to write certain types of smart contracts on Bitcoin as it exists today. Three examples of applications of Bitcoin smart contracts include: Bitcoin’s often-hyped Lightning Network; the recently announced Arwen protocol, which dramatically increases security for traders on exchanges; and Abra, which allows users to peg the value of their bitcoin to many other real world assets.
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Multisig addressing is another example of a smart contract, and former Bitcoin Core lead maintainer Gavin Andresen once argued most of what Ethereum is useful for can already be done with Bitcoin’s multisig functionality today. In fact, Andresen wrote about this a little over a year before Ethereum officially launched.
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This topic of whether Bitcoin is useful for smart contracts came up during Casa CTO Jameson Lopp’s recent interview with Epicenter. While sharing his thoughts on the matter, Lopp discussed his view of Bitcoin as a trust anchor, how more expressive smart contracts can be implemented in Bitcoin, and Bitcoin protocol developers’ conservative approach to their work.
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Bitcoin as a Trust Anchor
The discussion around Bitcoin’s usefulness for smart contracts came out of a question from Epicenter co-host Brian Fabian Crain around the general utility of the Bitcoin network. Lopp was
