OpenNode, a Bitcoin lightning network company was offered $1.25 million from Roger Ver as incentive to build on the Bitcoin Cash network. The company declined the offer stating that their vision of creating a more transparent financial system will only be possible on the Bitcoin network. This was just after Ver released a video comparing the scaling capabilities of the Bitcoin network and the Bitcoin lightning network. He said the Bitcoin lightning network would require 100 years for off-chain transactions for 10 billion people while the Bitcoin Cash network will take only 30 years to process transactions for the same number of people.
OpenNode Rejects $1.25 Million From Roger Ver
OpenNode is a software company that develops payment stacks for businesses. The software the company is developing is going to make it easy to deploy lightning network channels to the public. According to Ver, the company got a $1.25 million investment round from Tim Draper, the well-known venture capitalist. Ver said that he doesn’t want to be on the tail end of Draper’s investment. In his words:
“I do not want to be on the opposite side of an investment from Tim Draper. He is one of the best investors I have met in the world. I don’t think Draper considered the math before making this investment. Is he willing to wait for years to bring people on board? He’ll be making a mistake to do that. Lightning network would be far more effective on a system like Bitcoin Cash that doesn’t have block size limitations than on BTC.”
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Price Today – BCH / USD
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While Ver’s analysis seems logical, there is still a flaw because he came to his conclusion without giving room for the possibility of a future update on either the Bitcoin Cash or Bitcoin network within the next 100 years. Also, he did not account for upgrades of the lightning network. Based on his assumptions, he made an offer to OpenNode:
“I have an offer for Tim Draper and OpenNode. Since Draper invested $1.25 million in OpenNode, a system that doesn’t build on Bitcoin Cash, I am offering the company $1.25 million. I don’t need any share of OpenNode’s equity. All I need is for the company to build on the Bitcoin Cash network.”
Unfortunately, OpenNode declined Ver’s offer. The company stated that it declined the offer because it believes in building on the Bitcoin network and not on Bitcoin Cash. However, there are many other possible reasons why the company declined. For one, it may have been as a result of the war within the Bitcoin Cash network. The company may have decided to stick to the Bitcoin core network because of the instability of the BCH network. Part of the statement by the company was as follows:
“The Bitcoin network is a decentralized cryptographic ledger that hasn’t been hacked since it was created. It is the most liquid, most secure and oldest blockchain in existence. We are providing our customers with Bitcoin related services because we want to keep our customers protected. We do not want to expose our clients to the broader token market.”
