Without the OP_CAT, Bruce Liu said Bitcoin was “benefit -benefit as a jumbo jet with no wings” capable of more than allowed to do, but stuck to the ground as Ethereum and Solana sank.
Liu, the founder of OPCAT_LABS, said a single Opcode, OP_CAT, could change Bitcoin from static digital gold to program-program rivalry of other layer-1 chains.
OP_CAT is a long-term impaired opcode in the Bitcoin code that, if re-enabled, will allow developers to convince data to scripts and unlock a set of new possibilities, from vaults and covenants to decentralized exchange and zero-knowledge proof.
The bitcoin blockchain, If OP_CAT is re -enabledwill be programmable as Ethereum or Solana, says Liu.
“OP_CAT is not a new code. It has not been deleted, just commented and disabled. We have not added my opcode or someone else.
But The push for op_cat Not coming without strife.
Satoshi This is disabled in 2010 In concerns it can enable decline-service attacks. Opponents argue that any new opcode introduces “unknown those who do not know,” threatens Bitcoin’s hard-won stability. Others take philosophical stance: Bitcoin should remain digital gold, rather than chasing Ethereum’s programmability.
Liu pushed back by appealing to Satoshi Nakamoto’s design.
“If Bitcoin is only for payments, why does Satoshi incorporate the script?” He asked. “OP_CAT is not my invention. This is Satoshi’s code. It is not deleted, disabled.”
Liu said OP_CAT will bring a script to life – the basic language of programming developed in the Bitcoin blockchain – allows Bitcoin to make more of payments and enabling features such as vaults or even major defi.
OP_CAT, he said, will open more of that potential, let developers develop things like vaults, covenants, or even simple Defi apps in Bitcoin.
To boost the point, he taught Nakamoto’s own explanation of why the script existed in the first place.
In a 2010 Bitcointalk PostNakamoto wrote that the Bitcoin design was effectively “set in stone” from its first release, so he wanted it to accommodate every type of transaction he could imagine.
Hard-coding each created endless special cases, Satoshi explained, so Bitcoin’s creator has instead introduced the script as a general solution to let users define their own conditions as the nodes only need to check if those conditions are met.
That, the company launched A fork of bitcoin on a virtual machine that has enabled op_cat To demonstrate its potential, complete with SDKs, APIs and a JavaScript-like programming language designed to access the building in Bitcoin to web2 developers.
The op_cat lobby
The other half of Liu’s plan is political. Next to Mate Tokay, an early Bitcoin businessman, co-founded bitcoin.com with Roger Ver, OPCAT_LABS led what they described as an “alliance” by OP_CAT supporters.
The goal is to coordinate otherwise scattered efforts from groups such as taproot wizards, starkware, and independent developers.
“Previously, OP_CAT advocacy was no leader,” Liu said. “Ninety percent of the people we’re talking about are in favor, but the strongest voice is the fight. We want to adjust the support to something that is visible, semi-official, and coordinated.”
Tokay will make it an education campaign for influential stakeholders, fund managers, institutions, and even lawmakers, whom he said is too focused on BTC’s wealth to notice the debate on programmability.
“If they know what OP_CAT unlocked, they will be happier in the future of Bitcoin,” he said.
Through next year’s Bitcoin Asian conference, Liu hopes to show the working defi apps in Bitcoin and move forward towards an organized lobbying in front.
He will make it to unlock the potential there. “We don’t change Bitcoin,” he said. “We are presenting its wings.”
