Bitcoin SV integrates its own ‘internet’ into the blockchain. The so-called Metanet is designed to reinvent not only money but the internet itself. The leading developers behind the project are Steven Shadders and _unwriter. The latter developer famously slandered Bitcoin Cash (BCH) publicly in a blog in favor of Bitcoin SV. Ever since he is by far the most productive developer on Bitcoin SV. _unwriter developed many applications that ensure the functionality of Bitcoin SV with the new Metanet.
Bitcoin SV Developed Its Very Own Philosophy
The Metanet is something like the internet on a blockchain. Users can save everything on the blockchain – everything. The fork has raised the limit for op_return transactions from 220 bytes to 100 kilobytes to make this possible. Full nodes save any large data file and spread them if demanded. This enables BSV‘s metanet to become the allrounder among the blockchains. Bitcoin maximalism – whether a good thing or not – could get a new meaning through this.
This makes BSV fundamentally different from Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Both the BTC and the BCH community (to a lesser degree) would classify the upload of unrelated files as an attack. However, due to the limitation of op_return transactions to 80 bytes (BTC) and 220 bytes (BCH). The “threat” of such attacks is limited anyway.
Possible Use-Case: Universal Archive
In any case, what Bitcoin SV is working on is interesting. Users can use the metanet as an archive. Any content is public, accessible to anyone and cannot be deleted. At least for as long as Bitcoin SV exists. These qualities could turn Bitcoin SV to an alternative to cloud storage for very important data. However, the upload is rather costly with 1 BSV satoshi per byte. A Megabyte thus would cost currently about $0.64. Much more than cloud storage or hard drive storage cost. A little barrier that protects the blockchain from spam – to some degree at least. Bitcoin SV delivers a potential product for official documents, public contracts or libraries.
The Fate of the Smaller Fork?
From a strategic perspective, the creation of the metanet makes sense. Bitcoin SV has little relevance as a financial medium. The daily volume is very low – lower than that of BTC or BCH. The fork has lost the hash war against BCH for the title of being the big block version of Bitcoin. The reinvention of Bitcoin SV was necessary. However, it is questionable whether the team behind Craig Wright managed to create something useful. Unlikely, that public institutions will store their documents on a blockchain that is associated with someone who has a reputation as bad as that of Craig Wright.
The state of Bitcoin SV makes you think about the blockchain in general. There might be many other possible use-cases for such a network. However, it definitely differs from Satoshi’s Vision as he outlined it in “Bitcoin – a Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.” But as of now, it seems like it is just another crypto project that created a solution without a problem.