Earlier this year, controversial Bitcoin Cash maximalist Roger Ver released a video in which he offered a platform called OpenNode to switch from Bitcoin-based Lightning Network to Bitcoin Cash. As a quick reminder, OpenNode is a recently introduced Bitcoin payment processor which looks to leverage the LN capabilities to enable instant Bitcoin transactions with minimal fees.
Tim Draper, a well-known venture capital investor had recently invested 1,25 million into OpenNode which is a blockchain development company building bitcoin platforms on the lightning network.
In a video posted on the official Bitcoin.com channel, Ver details several reasons why Lightning Network will take 190 years to reach worldwide adoption, while he claims that BCH can reach the same levels of adoption in less than 50 years. He then mentions how Tim Draper, popular Bitcoin investor, poured 1.25 million USD into the OpenNode software. Claiming he doesn’t want to be “on the opposite side” of Draper, Ver offers to match his investment 1:1 if OpenNode were to switch to Bitcoin Cash, aka “the cryptocurrency that actually has the ability to become money for the world.”
OpenNode was quick to respond to Ver’s suggestions, quickly squashing any possibility of them switching to Bitcoin Cash. Thanking Roger for his kind offer, they reiterated that their vision of a better, more open financial system depends heavily on Bitcoin.
A developer currently working on OpenNode commented on this Twitter post, saying how no amount of money will make them service “inferior money.” One community member had a fitting comment for this recent failed publicity stunt made by Roger Ver:
“When will Roger realize… no amount of money will buy Bcash a future.”
Rui Gomes, a developer with the Lightning Network called BCH ‘inferior money,’ and implicitly likened the offer of investment to a buy-out attempt.
While Open Node may not be swayed, Roger Ver has now essentially set up an opposition between BCH’s model for scaling and the Lightning Network. This likely will not be the last we hear of the back-and-forth between the two crypto camps.
