Without op_cat, Bruce Liu says that Bitcoin is as “useful as a Jet Jet without wings” capable of much more than he can do, but gets stuck on the floor while Ethereum and Solana shoot.
Liu, the founder of Opcat_Labs, says that a single OPCODE, op_cat, could transform Bitcoin of static digital gold into programmable money that rivals other Capa-1 chains.
Op_Cat is a long disability operation code in the bitcoin code that, if enabled, would allow developers to concatenate data in scripts and unlock a variety of new possibilities, from vaults and agreements to decentralized exchanges and zero knowledge tests.
Bitcoin’s block chain, if op_cat was enabled again, would be as programmable as Ethereum or Solana, Liu said.
“Op_cat is not a new code. It was never eliminated, he only commented and disabled. We are not adding my operation code or that of another person. It is Satoshi,” Liu told Coindesk during an interview outside BTC Asia in Hong Kong.
But the impulse for op_cat does not come without friction.
Satoshi disabled it in 2010 for concerns that could allow denial attacks. The opponents argue that any new operation code introduces “unknown unknowns”, which threatens the hard stability of Bitcoin. Others take a philosophical posture: Bitcoin must continue to be digital gold, instead of pursuing Ethereum’s programability.
Liu goes back to the design of Satoshi Nakamoto.
“If Bitcoin was only for payments, why did Satoshi include the script?” asked. “Op_Cat is not my invention, it is the Satoshi code. It was never eliminated, only disabled.”
Liu says that op_cat would give life to the script, the basic programming language integrated in the Bitcoin block chain, allowing Bitcoin to make more than only payments and enabling characteristics such as vaults or even basic defici.
Op_Cat, he said, would unlock more than that potential, allowing developers to build things such as vaults, agreements or even simple defia applications in Bitcoin.
To reinforce the point, says Nakamoto’s own explanation of why the script existed first.
In a Bitcointalk Post 2010, Nakamoto wrote that Bitcoin’s design was effectively “established in stone” of his first launch, so he wanted him to accommodate each type of transaction he could imagine.
The hard coding of each would have created endless special cases, Satoshi explained, so the creator of Bitcoin introduced the script as a general solution that allows users to define their own conditions, while the nodes only needed to verify if these conditions were met.
The company has already launched a bitcoin for a virtual machine with OP_Cat enabled to demonstrate its potential, complete with SDK, API and a programming language similar to Javascript designed to make the construction of Bitcoin accessible for web2 developers.
The op_cat lobby
The other half of Liu’s plan is political. Together with Mate Tokay, an early businessman from Bitcoin, who co -founded Bitcoin.com with Roger Ver, Opcat_Labs is leading what they describe as an “alliance” of Op_Cat’s supporters.
The objective is to coordinate the scattered efforts of groups such as graphic, starkware and independent developers.
“Previously, Op_Cat’s defense had no leaders,” Liu said. “Ninety percent of the people we are talking about are in favor, but the loudest voices are those who contract. We want to organize support in something visible, semi -official and coordinated.”
Tokay frames it as an educational campaign for influential interested parties, fund managers, institutions and even legislators, who, according to him, are too focused on BTC Treasury bonds to notice the programability debate.
“If they knew what op_cat unlocks, they would be even more excited about Bitcoin’s future,” he said.
For the Bitcoin Asia Conference next year, Liu hopes to show AFI work applications in Bitcoin and progress towards an organized lobbying front.
He frames it as a unlock potential that has been there all the time. “We are not changing Bitcoin,” he said. “We are developing their wings.”
