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In an interview for the Lex Fridman Podcast, CEO at Tesla Elon Musk talked about Dogecoin (DOGE), Bitcoin, Web 3, smart contracts and more. Musk has been more involved with the crypto space in 2021, but most of his takes have sparked debate and controversy.
Related Reading |Â DOGE Plunges 9% As Creator Reveals How Much He Holds In This Cryptocurrency
When asked about his preferences of DOGE over Bitcoin, Musk claimed that âeven thoughâ the former was created as a joke it is superior to BTC on transaction volume, and capability. In his view, the meme coin is also cost-efficient versus the âhigh priceâ users need to pay for using the Bitcoin network.
Moreover, the Tesla executive believes Bitcoin has been unable to adapt to current times where âbetter internet connectionsâ make long synchronization times and âsmallâ block size obsolete. He referred to these Bitcoin attributes as âcomicâ and added the following addressing one of this cryptocurrencyâs main features, its fixed supply:
I think there is some value to having a lineal increase in the amount of currency that is generated (âŠ). If a currency is too deflationary, if a currency is expected to increase its value over time there is reluctant to spend it (âŠ)
Muskâs replies were full of gaps for some users that took the time to demonstrate the counter argument in the Bitcoin versus DOGE debate. Vijay Boyapati, author of âThe Bullish Case for Bitcoinâ, took to Twitter for this task and to point out the mistake made by the Tesla executive.
Talking about the block size for Dogecoin, Boyapati said that although it is in fact larger than Bitcoin, the latter has âorders of magnitude more transactional throughputâ via the second layer solution Lightning Network. Historically, the BTC community has opposed any change to the networkâs block size.
This is due to the numbers of issues that could altered the network and even threatened its existence. In that sense, Boyapati said:
Scaling at the blockchain layer is fundamentally flawed as it crucially undermines decentralization and protocol immutability.
What Elon Musk Missed On The Bitcoin v. DOGE Debate
Boyapati referred to Muskâs other reasons to support Dogecoin over Bitcoin. Addressing DOGEâs low transaction cost, Boyapati claims itâs due to the low network usage and not due to a superior design. Something similar happens to Bitcoin network fees.
In times of bullish price action, the Bitcoin networkâs fees usually tend to follow the price. The opposite happens in extend periods of downtrend. In fact, the first half of 2021 saw transactions fees of over 50 sats/vB in opposition to todays 11 sat/vB, according to Mempool.space.
BTC Transaction fees for the past 6 months. Source: Mempool Explorer
Boyapati hit the nail on the BTC monetary policy and block size, as he claimed developers would become âcentral bankersâ if they are able to alter these characteristics. Bitcoin has surpassed the $1 trillion in market cap and worldwide adoption because people can verify its immutability, Boyapati added:
The problem here is that Elon believes money must first and foremost be a medium of exchange. Rather, money always evolves through stages where it first becomes a store of value THEN subsequently a medium of exchange.
Related Reading | Tesla To Accept Dogecoin For Merchandise, Token Soars 30%
As of press time, BTC trades at $47,940 with a 2.4% loss in the past day.
BTC trends to the downside in the 4-hour chart. Source: BTCUSD Tradingview
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