What is 0xBitcoin?
In simple terms, 0xBitcoin is Bitcoin recreated on Ethereum. Ethereum’s digital gold. The ‘0x’ representing the Ethereum network, and ‘Bitcoin’, representing the currency from which it derives it’s fundamentals.
In slightly less simple terms, 0xBitcoin is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum network with Bitcoin specifications and fundamentals. These specifications and fundamentals are achieved by using a Proof of Work mechanism similar to Bitcoins for distribution.
The 0xBitcoin community recognizes the value in both Ethereum and Bitcoin, and sees the value of having a Bitcoin-like asset native to Ethereum. If you’re new to crypto, it helps to first have an understanding of both and why they’re important before explaining what makes 0xBitcoin so special.
Bitcoin is commonly referred to as ‘digital gold’. It is a trustless digital currency which can be used anywhere across the globe. Bitcoin is a deflationary, decentralized currency. Deflationary, meaning that there will only ever be so many Bitcoin created (21 million to be exact), and the rate of new Bitcoin created will decrease as time goes on. Decentralized, meaning it is not reliant on, nor controlled by any central entity like a bank or government.
To help understand those two terms a little better, we can contrast Bitcoin with the US dollar, a centralized, inflationary currency. Inflationary currencies do not have a max supply and over time, more and more units of the currency are created. The US dollar was inflated by 9 trillion dollars in 2020. The US Federal Reserve, the American central bank, printed that 9 trillion dollars out of thin air in an attempt to counter the economic impact of covid-19, a move which threatens to devalue the dollar in the long term. That’s 22% of the all the US dollars in circulation printed in one year alone!
Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency, is different. It’s easy to think of Bitcoin as money, but Ethereum is more complex. One common way you may see Ethereum described is as a decentralized ‘global computer’.
From the Ethereum foundation’s website:
Ethereum is a technology that lets you send cryptocurrency to anyone for a small fee. It also powers applications that everyone can use and no one can take down. Ethereum builds on Bitcoin’s innovation, with some big differences. Both let you use digital money without payment providers or banks. But Ethereum is programmable, so you can also use it for lots of different digital assets… This also means Ethereum is for more than payments. It’s a marketplace of financial services, games and apps that can’t steal your data or censor you.
Ethereum is a global network that is changing the way humans interact. Where centralized services like Amazon have a warehouses full of servers somewhere providing computational power, Ethereum’s computational power is spread across the globe and anyone can contribute to it and be rewarded for doing so.
It cuts out the middle man and allows for secure and transparent person to person transactions with no intermediaries, like centralized banks or payment applications. It is a platform for building decentralized apps or ‘dapps’ (programs that are uncensorable and uncheatable), and for creating tokens which can be bought, sold, or traded in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Tokens are assets that exist on the Ethereum network, and most tokens are ERC-20 tokens. In short, ERC-20 tokens are cryptocurrencies that are run on the Ethereum blockchain instead of their own blockchains like Bitcoin and Litecoin.
When cryptocurrencies run on their own blockchain they can only interact with themselves. ERC-20 tokens are all issued, run, and secured on the Ethereum blockchain. Allowing them to take full advantage of the speed and scalability of the Ethereum network, to be utilized by dapps, and interact with all the other ERC-20 tokens and services.
The fuel that makes Ethereum run is a cryptocurrency called Ether. It is an inflationary currency invaluable to the Ethereum ecosystem. It is used to pay for computational services and transaction fees on the network. It has no max supply, and is created at a constant rate, but that rate can be changed should the Ethereum foundation chose.
While this makes for a good asset to run the Ethereum network, it does not make for a good store of value. Ether cannot act as the ‘digital gold’ for Ethereum if it’s supply can be inflated and it’s rate is able to be changed. Ether is meant to fuel and secure the network, it is not meant to be a store of value.
This is where 0xBitcoin comes into the story.
0xBitcoin is the ‘Bitcoin’ asset native to Ethereum. It is Ethereum’s ‘digital gold’. The first of it’s kind, it is a deflationary, decentralized, trustless cryptocurrency native to the Ethereum platform. It’s defining feature, and what makes it special compared to all other tokens, is it’s distribution method.
When created, all ERC-20 tokens are given to the creator of that token. Those tokens will then need to be distributed and it is up to whoever created them to do so. This central figure is in full control of 100% of the supply and the distribution process, giving as many of the tokens as they want to themselves and whoever else they choose before selling the rest to the public. Pocketing the money gained from that sale. While this is completely fine for some use cases, you cannot have a decentralized, trustless currency with this distribution method.
0xBitcoin is a decentralized, trustless currency. It achieves this by bringing Bitcoins distribution method to Ethereum. This decentralizes it’s distribution and allows it to be the first completely trustless ERC-20 token. Inspired by, and following the same technical specifications and philosophies as Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin whitepaper, it is the first minable ERC-20 token. But unlike it’s counterpart, 0xBitcoin is completely native to Ethereum. It inherits the speed, scalability, and functionality of the network without any third party risk that comes along with it’s custodial counterparts.
Ethereum is a walled garden. Cryptocurrencies which live on their own blockchains, like Bitcoin, cannot directly interact with the Ethereum network. Some claim to to make this possible by introducing something called ‘custodial tokens’. These custodial tokens are an IOU of sorts, ERC-20 tokens which are supposed to hold the same value as Bitcoin. The problem is, with all custodial tokens you must put your trust in some third party, bringing back the centralization and risk that Bitcoin was designed to get away from.
On the outside of the Ethereum wall, you must hand over your real Bitcoin to an unknown entity and they will give you a Bitcoin-like substitute on the other side of that wall. This shiny Bitcoin-like substitute you get on the Ethereum side of the wall is a custodial token. You hold it and use it in the Ethereum ecosystem with the expectation that your real Bitcoin will be there should you ever want it back. These tokens give up the trustlessness and decentralization just to keep the price point of Bitcoin. 0xBitcoin gives up the price point, but keeps the trustlessness and decentralization.
0xBitcoin is deflationary where Ether is not, it is fully decentralized in ways non-minable tokens cannot be, and it is fully trustless, something that no custodial Bitcoin token can ever be.
0xBitcoin establishes a new level of trust for the Ethereum platform and ERC-20 tokens, trust not in human actors, but in open, easily verifiable code. It’s open, permissionless, transparent, decentralized, and censorship resistant, making it a true cryptocurrency. It’s trustless and deflationary, making it the perfect store of value for the platform and perfect for use in decentralized finance (or Defi for short). With the the speed, scalability, and advanced functionality of the Ethereum network, a bright future is assured.
0xBitcoin is Ethereum’s digital gold.
With Bitcoin and Ethereum reaching new all time highs seemingly daily, 0xBitcoin is currently flying under the radar of most, but poised to follow suit. To learn more about 0xBitcoin checkout 0xBitcoin.org, or join the Discord where there is a large group of people who would love to answer any questions you may have https://discord.gg/ScShQud.
Currently the best place to purchase 0xBitcoin is on Uniswap, Balancer, or other Decentralized exchanges. If you are new to cryptocurrency, check out my beginners guide here on how to set up an Ethereum wallet and purchase 0xBitcoin: https://0xk.medium.com/buying-0xbitcoin-the-easy-way-286ccabacf62
If you are interested in learning more, check out these pages:
- https://0xbitcoin.org/
- https://github.com/0xbitcoin/white-paper
- https://0x1d00ffff.github.io/0xBTC-Stats/?page=stats&
- https://0xbtc.info/
- https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/0xbtc/
- https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/0xbitcoin
Donation Address: 0xFCb66aD873dc79EAaFEaB1b3577E47c8f927DB22
