Ethereum and Solana’s hold on DeFi is about to end, well, at least according to Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson. In a Twitter/X post on October 25th, the Cardano co-founder claimed that decentralized finance is coming to Bitcoin, and it’s going to be bigger than Ethereum and Solana.
Hoskinson’s bold statement comes days after Cardano and Bitcoin agreed to use smart contract features in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Hoskinson shared that the new collaboration will pave the way for DeFi projects on the Bitcoin ecosystem and “dwarf” the developments at Solana and Ethereum.
DeFi Goes To Bitcoin
In a tweet, Hoskinson stated that he was ready to help drive the integration of DeFi projects into the Bitcoin ecosystem. He added that training sessions for BTC developers are in the pipeline, focusing on Aiken, a programming toolkit and language for designing and deploying smart contracts on Cardano.
Now that Bitcoin’s back in the family and innovating again, thanks to @BTC_OS, I will re-launch the Bitcoin Education Project in 2025 and produce a new edition of my course. We are also going to prepare Aiken education for Bitcoin developers, including hosting on…
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) October 25, 2024
Hoskinson says the training will help developers create and deploy smart contracts compatible with the Bitcoin and Cardano ecosystems. The transaction fees are in BTC. Specifically, Bitcoin will be made through Babel fees, a “universal currency converter” allowing users to pay fees for coins other than ADA. Hoskinson also shared that he’ll continue teaching Bitcoin and plans to reactivate the Bitcoin Education Project.
Hoskinson’s Abrupt Turnaround
Hoskinson’s latest posts on Bitcoin were a slight surprise for many crypto enthusiasts and observers. Cardano’s co-founder wasn’t exactly Bitcoin’s leading supporter after taking a jab at the blockchain a few months ago. In a video message shared last May, he mentioned that the industry no longer needs Bitcoin. He further added that Bitcoin cannot survive without the crypto sector.
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) October 25, 2024
Hoskinson was also combative a few days ago, saying that Cardano would soon overtake Bitcoin. Ethereum wasn’t spared either, saying it would face the same fate. However, the recent collaboration between Cardano’s EMURGO and Bitcoin changed everything, and now, Hoskinson is singing praises for Bitcoin.
While many observers took Hoskinson’s initial take on Bitcoin as combative, others saw a different picture. For some, Hoskinson simply referred to the need for the Bitcoin ecosystem to adapt to changes, or it would lose its advantage as the premier blockchain project.
Now that the Bitcoin platform is open towards DeFi, Hoskinson is understandably excited and ready to help. This latest collaboration between BitcoinOS and EMURGO will bridge the gap between the two ecosystems, which can deliver a huge liquidity boost to Cardano. In addition, this latest agreement makes Cardano the first Layer 1 blockchain to use BitcoinOS’ interoperability features.
Featured image from usauthor.com, chart from TradingView