BTC Lightning Network Company Rejects $1.25 Million from Roger Ver to Build on Bitcoin Cash

Roger Ver offered $1.25 million to OpenNode, a lightning network software company, to build on top of Bitcoin Cash.

In a video lambasting the scaling limitations of Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, Roger Ver pointed out that off-chain scaling using Lightning Network for 10 billion people would take over 100 years.

Ver touted that on-chain scaling for Bitcoin Cash would only take 40 years.

Lightning Network is a series of smart contracts that allow people to transact with bitcoin without cluttering the main Bitcoin network; these transactions are instantaneous and almost fee-less.

"I don't want to be the opposite side of an investment from Tim Draper. He's one of the smartest and best investors in the entire world. But, I don't think Tim has looked at the math on this. Is he willing to wait decades to onboard people? You're making a mistake in doing that. Lightning Network would work far, far, far, far better on a system that doesn't have a limit to the size of the blocks, like Bitcoin Cash than it will on BTC. [sic]."

There are a few shortcomings with Ver's analysis, especially around the assumption that both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash will be stagnant, with no upgrades or updates whatsoever, over the next 100 years.

"I have an offer for the OpenNode team and Tim Draper. You [Draper] invested $1.25 million in OpenNode, a Bitcoin-only payments processing startup. Well Tim, I'm offering to match your $1.25 million investment in OpenNode, with no strings attached equity-wise. I don't need one share [of equity] whatsoever. All I require is that OpenNode actually starts working on payment processing for Bitcoin Cash, the version of Bitcoin that has the most Bitcoin-ness about it."

"Bitcoin's network is a decentralized cryptographic blockchain that has never been hacked or compromised since its inception. It is the most secure, liquid, and longest working blockchain. We are only providing businesses with the ability to accept bitcoin because we want to protect our users as best we can by limiting their exposure to the broader token market."

Roger Ver's critique of Bitcoin Cash highlights the deep schism in the BTC community.

Those in the Bitcoin Cash community claim that Bitcoin supporters are unwilling to implement "Common-sense" changes to improve the protocol.