{"id":95666,"date":"2018-12-30T17:32:08","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T01:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/?p=95666"},"modified":"2026-04-16T15:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:19:12","slug":"btc-lightning-network-company-rejects-million-roger-ver-bitcoin-cash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/btc-lightning-network-company-rejects-million-roger-ver-bitcoin-cash\/","title":{"rendered":"BTC Lightning Network Company Rejects $1.25 Million from Roger Ver to Build on Bitcoin Cash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roger Ver<\/a> offered $1.25 million to OpenNode, a lightning network software company, to build on top of Bitcoin Cash<\/a>. OpenNode declined, stating \u201cour vision of a better, more open financial system is only possible with Bitcoin.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a video lambasting<\/a> the scaling limitations of Bitcoin and the Lightning Network<\/a>, Roger Ver pointed out that off-chain scaling using Lightning Network for 10 billion people would take over 100 years. Meanwhile, Ver touted that on-chain<\/em> scaling for Bitcoin Cash would only take 40 years.<\/p>\n

OpenNode<\/a> is a software company that is developing a payments stack for businesses. The company is developing software that makes it easy to deploy Lightning Network channels for retailers and the general public. 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.<\/p>\n

The company received<\/a> a $1.25 million seed investment from Tim Draper<\/a>, according to Ver and multiple news sources. Timothy Draper is a renowned American venture capitalist.<\/p>\n

During Roger Ver\u2019s video recording, he stated that he doesn't want to be on the tail end of an investment from Draper:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to be the opposite side of an investment from Tim Draper. He\u2019s one of the smartest and best investors in the entire world. But, I don\u2019t think Tim has looked at the math on this. Is he willing to wait decades to onboard people? You\u2019re making a mistake in doing that. Lightning Network would work far, far, far, far better on a system that doesn\u2019t have a limit to the size of the blocks, like Bitcoin Cash than it will on BTC. [sic].\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The math Roger Ver is referring to is his analysis performed in the video. During the video, Ver takes a spreadsheet and makes approximations as to how long Lightning Network would take to scale to the entire world. He then compares that to Bitcoin Cash in its current iteration, factoring in Moore\u2019s and Nielsen\u2019s Laws, which are commonly accepted assertions that computing power doubles approximately every 18 months.<\/p>\n

There are a few shortcomings with Ver\u2019s 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. Furthermore, Roger Ver does not account for improvements to the Lightning Network, which is already gaining considerable traction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Roger Ver, using these assumptions, then makes an offer to OpenNode to develop their technology on BitcoinCash:<\/p>\n

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\u201cI 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\u2019m offering to match your $1.25 million investment in OpenNode, with no strings attached equity-wise. I don\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

OpenNode declined.<\/p>\n

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Thanks for the $1.25MM offer @rogerkver<\/a>, but we\u2019re going to have to turn it down. Our vision of a better, more open financial system is only possible with Bitcoin. #bitcoin4everyday<\/a>https:\/\/t.co\/4tbavwnXXb<\/a><\/p>\n

— OpenNode \u26a1\ufe0f (@OpenNode) December 30, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n