Bitcoin is a Protocol

Which is interesting because its something we interact with multiple times daily.

Every time we scroll through a website, download an app or watch an Instagram reel, we are downloading bytes of data from a server to our device, using the HTTP protocol*

Protocols are the foundational layer of a network. Everything is built upon the protocol. Just like shops, restaurants, offices and apartment blocks are built on the protocol layer of a city — the interweaving web of infrastructure that most people take for granted, but is absolutely necessary for everything that’s built on it to function and thrive. The power lines, the road network, the sewage system and countless other things.

There are some specific characteristics a protocol of any kind needs to attain. Arguably the most important one is that it should beunchanging. If a protocol would change its fundamental rules, the integrity of the things that are built on it would be compromised. A tall building must be built on solid bedrock otherwise it risks collapsing.

In computer systems there are two main layers. The protocol layer and the application layer. An application — in this example a website, is able to be transmitted from server to device because of the HTTP protocol. A website can be relatively easily migrated to a different web host, or updated with a different build framework without any discernible change to the end user. Because all web applications are designed for the same protocols.

An ecosystem of different applications canthrivein this way. Disparate applications suddenly benefit from interoperability when they share the same bedrock. In the same way that people can much more effectively cooperate when they speak the same language.

When developers have got comfortable building on a specific protocol, network effects ensure future developers continue to build on it, as they are heavily incentivised to do so. And the protocol becomes almost impossible to disrupt. A phenomenon known as path dependence comes into play.

When it comes to crypto, other blockchains, for example Ethereum can be described as protocols, as they are platforms that other things are built upon. But their characteristics ultimately define their integrity as protocols.

Much the same arguments I pose in my account of how Bitcoin and alts inhabit the Hare and Tortoise archetypes — are relevant in the protocol debate. Many pursue the model of building new features directly into the protocol itself, addressing use-cases rapidly and efficiently but resulting in a protocol that is in a constant state of flux, shaking the grounds which applications are trying to build an ecosystem on.

Bitcoin on the other hand is a protocol in the pure sense. If new use-cases or features are proposed, the challenge is taken up to build applications that layer on top of Bitcoin. The shared incentives of the decentralised node operators on the network to reject fundamental changes, keeps the protocol largely unchanging and ossified, and as a result Bitcoin remains decentralised, secure and a perfect bedrock for a new ecosystem to flourish.

*HTTP is a protocol for fetching resources such as HTML documents. It is the foundation of any data exchange on the Web and it is a client-server protocol, which means requests are initiated by the recipient, usually the Web browser. Source: mozilla.org