Debate Reignites Over Years-Old Bitcoin Drivechain with AI Voice Generator

Exploring the BIP-300 Proposal

The Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) BIP-300, also known as Bitcoin (BTC) Drivechains, has sparked debate among Bitcoiners. It proposes adding “sidechains” on top of the Bitcoin network, which could potentially increase scams but also bring new users to the cryptocurrency.

LayerTwo Labs founder Paul Sztorc, the author of the proposal, has suggested that these blockchains would enable the creation of altcoins by allowing BTC to move onto them. In December, LayerTwo Labs raised $3 million to continue development of the project.

Recently, one developer has claimed to have found a way to achieve the proposal’s goal without a soft fork of the blockchain.

BIP-300 Proposal: An Alternative

The debate surrounding the BIP-300 proposal resurfaced on Aug. 22, when a Bitcoin core developer, known as Luke Dashjr, rewrote the code for the proposal and requested to add it to Bitcoin’s codebase. The proposal would require a soft fork of Bitcoin, similar to the Taproot soft fork that happened in November 2021.

On Sept. 10, Maxim Orlovsky, CEO of the blockchain scaling solutions project Pandora, posted on Twitter claiming he was able to create a two-way peg on Bitcoin without a soft fork of the blockchain, which BIP-300 requires. He explained that an old project proposal could work as an alternative to BIP-300, with an oracle working to validate a sidechain and “the protocol will reach consensus on whether the state reported by the oracle is correct.”

Breaking Crypto Twitter: Drivechains Proposal

Details of the Drivechains proposal are still limited, with project lead Orlovsky saying he would work on a paper to explain the setup in more detail. Proponents of BIP-300, including Sztorc, suggest that Drivechains will enable users to select a blockchain security model that suits their needs and how they want their Bitcoin to work. Sztorc also believes the proposal has “enormous upside” with “literally zero downside.”

However, not everyone is convinced, with Cory Klippsten, the chief of the BTC-only exchange Swan Bitcoin, rejecting the proposal and claiming it will increase the number of crypto scams, which could bring unwelcome attention from regulators. Pierre Rochard, the VP of research at Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms, has also voiced his concerns, saying the proposal’s messaging is based on “speculative economic arguments rather than substantive engineering ones” and is “pure hopium.”

BIP-300 Support from Educator Dan Held and Bitcoin Wallet Provider Casa Co-founder Jameson Lopp

Educator Dan Held voiced his support for BIP-300, claiming that Bitcoin is better off with more speculative assets as they “introduce new audiences to Bitcoin.”

Casa co-founder Jameson Lopp, a well-known figure in the crypto space, stated that he has yet to see a “convincing concern” of how sidechains could be dangerous to the main Bitcoin blockchain. He further added that if a sidechain becomes more valuable, it could signal that the base chain “should implement that sidechain’s features.”