On 16-17 March 2024, the sCrypt hackathon took place at the historic Fairmont, San Francisco. The keynote presentation was by Xiaohui Liu, Founder and CEO of sCrypt, who gave an overview of both the possibilities that are viable for developers with the BSV blockchain and where the entire ecosystem sits in a business context.
A key part of the talk was also to drive forward the development of a killer app, with Liu discussing conditions and strategies.
Finding the killer app for the BSV blockchain
One of the central themes of Liu’s discourse revolved around the absence of a ‘killer app’ despite there being many opportunities from a technical perspective. He compared this situation to a gold rush. However, in the case of the BSV blockchain, people lack the tools to profit from the situation. Liu introduced sCrypt as a provider of such tools, enabling developers to implement the unique properties of the BSV blockchain in apps and business models.
Liu’s platform offers a TypeScript-based solution, which millions of developers are familiar with. He revealed that sCrypt originally developed its programming language, which they abandoned, as they realised it would hinder the adoption of the BSV blockchain, as developers who could build using the proprietary sCrypt language would be very hard to find for businesses.
By utilising a familiar language and workflow, developers can seamlessly integrate smart contract development into their existing skillset without the need to learn new languages like Solidity or Rust. This approach aims to streamline the development process and make smart contract development more accessible across the entire blockchain space.
‘Boomer’ vs. ‘Degen’
Liu described two different approaches to the development of apps, which was illustrated in his presentation by a meme. One is the ‘boomer’ approach, and the other is the ‘degen’ approach. While the former is an enterprise-oriented strategy that targets established companies in a professional setting, the latter is a less formal, grassroots and community-driven approach that is open to experimentation.
Rather than pitting these approaches against each other, Liu advocated for adopting elements from both approaches according to one’s own needs and personal preferences. He acknowledged that both approaches have their validity and necessity, especially since the community strives for broader adoption.
Leveraging the BSV blockchain
Liu highlighted the need to leverage the unique features of the BSV blockchain. He compared this to the evolution of mobile technology, where successful apps capitalised on the specific features of smartphones, such as touchscreens and gyroscopes or the integration of GPS. Killer apps such as Angry Birds and Google Maps were mentioned as apps that were simple, user-friendly and successfully implemented newly available technology.
Liu suggested that the killer app for BSV will likely utilise features like micropayments, smart contracts, tokenisation, and the immutability of the blockchain. Like the aforementioned example of Google Maps, the utility of a killer app could be immediately apparent to anyone using it due to its innovative implementation. Therefore, he encouraged developers to pioneer new directions rather than simply migrating legacy apps.
Quick iterations – gaining practice and applying learnings
Liu also emphasised the approach taken in the hackathon. Using successful examples, Liu concluded that the recipe for success lies in the rapid realisation and development of app ideas. According to him, this is a more promising approach than holding on to an app for a long time and marketing it for many years.
Rather, he encouraged developers to experiment with the new infrastructure that the BSV Blockchain facilitates. By fostering a culture of experimentation and learning from user feedback, developers at the sCrypt Hackathon learn to become better developers, while simultaneously developing with innovative infrastructure.
To conclude his presentation, Liu presented applications, use cases and successful implementations. The applications presented included among others tokenisation, 1Sat ordinals, atomic swaps, order locks and difficulty locks.
