We have often been asked the question: Why are Dapps such as distributed exchanges typically on Ethereum rather than Bitcoin? After all, it is certainly possible to build Dapps, suc...
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We have often been asked the question: Why are Dapps such as distributed exchanges typically on Ethereum rather than Bitcoin? After all, it is certainly possible to build Dapps, such as distributed exchanges, naming systems or alternative tokens on top of Bitcoin. There are of course several reasons for this, such as: i. Ethereum’s more flexible native scripting language making it easier to build Dapps, ii. Ethereum’s faster blocktime, making Dapps more user friendly, or iii. Bitcoin choosing a more conservative blocksize constraint than Ethereum, resulting in potentially higher fees on Bitcoin. All of the above did have an impact, however their impact is often overstated in our view. The most significant factor is culture. Some Bitcoiners and Bitcoin developers simply did not want this type of activity on the Bitcoin blockchain and they successfully discouraged it. This seems to have primarily occurred in around March 2014 and what happened in that period is the subject of this piece. At the same time, promoters of other chains, such as Ethereum may have exploited and exaggerated this apparent stance from the Bitcoin developers, to help their new chains gain traction.