Rootstock | Bringing the Ethereum Virtual Machine to Bitcoin

Rootstock Chief Scientist, Sergio Demian Lerner, regards the upcoming Bitcoin halving is a moment of celebration for the community and highlights the importance of transaction fees for the sustainability of the network.

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In this installment of "The Protocol," hosts Brad Keoun, the founding editor of The Protocol Newsletter, and tech journalists Sam Kessler and Margaux Nijkerk, dive into

are joined by Sergio Demian Lerner, Chief Scientist at Rootstock, to discuss his research on the Patoshi pattern and the early mining of Bitcoin. He explains how he identified that Satoshi Nakamoto had mined approximately 1.1 million Bitcoins and had never spent them, which built trust in the system. Sergio also shares his insights on the upcoming Bitcoin halving and the importance of transaction fees for the sustainability of the network.

Takeaways |

Sergio Demian Lerner identified the Patoshi pattern, which revealed that Satoshi Nakamoto had mined approximately 1.1 million Bitcoins and had never spent them, building trust in the system.
The upcoming Bitcoin halving is a moment of celebration for the community and highlights the importance of transaction fees for the sustainability of the network.
Rootstock aims to bring the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to Bitcoin and focuses on financial inclusion and the use of Bitcoin collateralized stablecoins.
The cultures of Ethereum and Bitcoin differ in terms of complexity, centralization, and fragmentation, with Ethereum being more open and welcoming to developers.
The introduction of BitBM and the development of bridges on Bitcoin may lead to changes in the Bitcoin ecosystem, such as the addition of new opcodes for more efficient operations.

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EPISODE LINKS |

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The Protocol has been produced and edited by senior producer Michele Musso and our executive producer is Jared Schwartz. Our theme song is “Take Me Back” by Strength To Last.

HOSTS

Margaux Nijkerk

Margaux Nijkerk reports on the Ethereum protocol and L2s. A graduate of Johns Hopkins and Emory universities, she has a masters in International Affairs & Economics. She holds BTC and ETH above CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

Sam Kessler

Sam is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for tech and protocols. His reporting is focused on decentralized technology, infrastructure and governance. Sam holds a computer science degree from Harvard University, where he led the Harvard Political Review. He has a background in the technology industry and owns some ETH and BTC. Sam was part of the team that won a 2023 Gerald Loeb Award for CoinDesk's coverage of Sam Bankman-Fried and the FTX collapse.

Bradley Keoun

Bradley Keoun is CoinDesk's managing editor of tech & protocols, where he oversees a team of reporters covering blockchain technology, and previously ran the global crypto markets team. A two-time Loeb Awards finalist, he previously was chief global finance and economic correspondent for TheStreet and before that worked as an editor and reporter for Bloomberg News in New York and Mexico City, reporting on Wall Street, emerging markets and the energy industry. He started out as a police-beat reporter for the Gainesville Sun in Florida and later worked as a general-assignment reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, he double-majored in electrical engineering and classical studies as an undergraduate at Duke University and later obtained a master's in journalism from the University of Florida. He is currently based in Austin, Texas, and in his spare time plays guitar, sings in a choir and hikes in the Texas Hill Country. He owns less than $1,000 each of several cryptocurrencies.

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