The Bitcoin SV (BSV) blockchain, a controversial fork from Bitcoin Cash (BCH), is actively building real-world use cases and advocating for regulatory clarity. It’s painting a vision of Bitcoin that diverges from mainstream narratives—one rooted in massive scalability, data utility, and economic sustainability.
At the BSV China Conference held on December 7, Jimmy Nguyen, President of the Bitcoin Association, argued that Bitcoin (BTC) has failed to fulfill Satoshi Nakamoto’s original vision. “When we look at block size, average on-chain transaction volume, and peak transactions per second, BTC clearly hasn’t achieved the functionality of an electronic cash system,” he stated.
BSV’s response? A bold strategy: scale block sizes infinitely, reduce transaction fees drastically, and increase transaction volume to sustain miner profitability—fixing what many see as a broken economic model in BTC.
This approach isn’t theoretical. In July, BSV conducted stress tests on its Scaling Test Network (STN), producing 12 consecutive 2GB blocks—2,000 times larger than BTC’s 1MB limit. Each block contained between 2.7 to 4 million transactions, with per-transaction fees under one cent. Miners earned up to 39 BSV in fees alone—more than the current block reward of 12.5 BSV.
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BSV’s Vision: Beyond Currency to Data Infrastructure
Jimmy Nguyen emphasized that BSV isn’t just about payments—it’s about transforming blockchain into a global data ledger. “We’re not building this for transactions alone. We’re preparing for a future where blockchain stores data, content, and value—all in one place.”
To support this, the upcoming Genesis hard fork, scheduled for February 2020, will remove all artificial protocol limits, enabling unlimited block sizes determined by market demand and miner consensus.
This shift allows BSV to function as a decentralized server layer—what Nguyen calls the “Metanet.” Developers can attach metadata, documents, or even IoT sensor outputs directly to transactions. For example, environmental data like air quality readings could be permanently recorded and monetized.
Craig S. Wright (CSW), nChain’s chief scientist and a central figure in the BSV movement, echoed this sentiment: “Our goal is to give individuals control over their data. You can publish files, set your own price, earn when people engage with your content—and operate without fear of government audits. This was Bitcoin’s original purpose: to carry value, not sit idle as ‘digital gold.’”
Rethinking Privacy and Governance
One of CSW’s most provocative arguments challenges a core tenet in crypto culture: “Code is law.”
“I don’t agree with it,” CSW said plainly. “Law has flexibility. It has humanity. But smart contracts operate in binary—either 0 or 1. Reality isn’t so rigid. We forgive, we adapt, we allow gray areas. A purely code-enforced system cannot reflect that.”
He also clarified a common misconception: Bitcoin is not about anonymity. “True anonymity breaks down the moment you conduct an offline transaction or reveal your identity. Worse, fully anonymous systems encourage corruption and crime. What Bitcoin protects is privacy—the right to control who sees your data.”
This distinction shapes BSV’s design philosophy: transparent yet private-by-design systems that comply with real-world legal frameworks while empowering users.
Real-World Applications: From Social Media to Micropayments
Unlike many blockchains focused on speculation, BSV promotes “Earn & Use”—a model encouraging active participation through utility-driven apps.
Developers are already building on this foundation:
- Yours.org: A content platform where writers earn micropayments when readers view or share their articles.
- Twetch: A blockchain-based social media app (often called “Bitcoin Twitter”) where every post is a transaction.
- Ture Reviews: A decentralized review platform where users get paid for writing restaurant or service reviews—merchants even compensate positive feedback.
These applications turn passive consumption into income opportunities—aligning incentives across users, creators, and businesses.
Developer Tools and Financial Innovation
Several projects showcased at the conference highlight BSV’s practical potential:
- Mempool & DaDian Wallet, founded by Lin Zhemin, offers an open wallet platform reducing development overhead. By handling account management and settlement logic, it lets developers focus on product innovation instead of infrastructure.
- FastPayButton, created by Qiu Weifeng, tackles prepayment fraud in industries like beauty salons or education centers. Using smart contracts, payments are released incrementally upon service delivery—eliminating risks of businesses taking money and disappearing.
- ShowJob, a C2C task marketplace by serial entrepreneur Feng Xinyu, enables users to post bounties in BSV. All communications, task details, and fund distribution are recorded on-chain via multi-signature wallets. In its first four weeks, ShowJob completed 238 tasks with zero fraud incidents.
Even established tech figures are joining. Chen Mingjie, founder of Maxthon Browser—one of China’s earliest web browsers with over 100 million downloads—announced plans to integrate native BSV support, making it one of the first mainstream browsers to embrace blockchain natively.
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Challenges and the Road Ahead
Despite progress, developers acknowledge limitations. Zhou Quan, founder of BlueSV, shared insights from building a weather app on BSV: “For simple applications, it’s easy to get started. But when you need high concurrency or large-scale data handling, stability and fault tolerance still need improvement.”
Scalability isn’t just technical—it’s also ecological. Widespread adoption requires robust tooling, developer education, and clear regulatory pathways.
The Genesis Upgrade: A Turning Point
On December 6, BSV released the test version of its Genesis upgrade, marking a pivotal moment in its roadmap.
Key changes include:
- Removal of all hard-coded limits on block size and transaction volume.
- Full restoration of Bitcoin’s original scripting language capabilities.
- Reversal of changes made in BTC that restricted functionality.
Two public testnets—the Genesis Test Network and Genesis Reset Network—mirror mainnet conditions. The latter resets every 48 hours, allowing repeated simulation of the February 4 activation.
By January 3, 2020, BSV plans to release audit results and a stable version, urging ecosystem participants to upgrade nodes and test applications in advance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does BSV stand for?
A: BSV stands for Bitcoin SV, where "SV" means "Satoshi Vision"—a reference to the claim that this chain follows the original design principles of Bitcoin as intended by Satoshi Nakamoto.
Q: How does BSV achieve low transaction fees?
A: By increasing block sizes dramatically, BSV spreads fixed costs across millions of transactions. This enables fees as low as a fraction of a cent per transaction—making microtransactions economically viable.
Q: Is BSV more centralized than BTC?
A: Critics argue larger blocks favor well-resourced miners, potentially increasing centralization. However, proponents believe market forces and competition will naturally balance node distribution over time.
Q: Can BSV really handle enterprise-level data?
A: With planned support for terabyte-sized blocks and projects like Teranode aiming for millions of TPS, BSV is engineered for massive throughput—positioning it as a candidate for enterprise-grade data infrastructure.
Q: Why is the Genesis upgrade important?
A: It removes artificial constraints from the protocol, enabling unlimited scaling based on demand. This fulfills a core promise of decentralization: letting the market—not developers—decide network parameters.
Q: Does BSV support smart contracts?
A: Yes. While different from Ethereum-style contracts, BSV uses Script-based smart contracts capable of complex logic—especially after restoring full scripting functionality in the Genesis upgrade.
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