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False Premises, Failed Promises: BTC's Market Illusion and the Abandonment of Bitcoin's Design

Author

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  • Craig S. Wright

    (Department of Economics, University of Exeter)

Abstract

BTC, diverging fundamentally from the original Bitcoin protocol, has attained outsized market capitalisation despite abandoning Bitcoin's primary function as a scalable, traceable system for electronic cash. The Lightning Network, frequently misrepresented as a Layer 2 solution, is demonstrably a separate payment routing structure that never requires final settlement on-chain. This paper deconstructs the economic, technical, and ideological divergence of BTC from Bitcoin, critiques the architectural and empirical failure of Lightning, and examines the speculative mispricing driven by false narratives, branding confusion, and structural ignorance.

Suggested Citation

  • Craig S. Wright, 2025. "False Premises, Failed Promises: BTC's Market Illusion and the Abandonment of Bitcoin's Design," Discussion Papers 2502, University of Exeter, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:exe:wpaper:2502
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    File URL: https://exetereconomics.github.io/RePEc/dpapers/DP2502.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cole, Benjamin M. & Dyhrberg, Anne H. & Foley, Sean & Svec, Jiri, 2022. "Can Bitcoin be Trusted? Quantifying the economic value of blockchain transactions," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
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    5. Zabka, Philipp & Förster, Klaus-T. & Decker, Christian & Schmid, Stefan, 2024. "A centrality analysis of the Lightning Network," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(2).
    6. Milkau, Udo, 2023. "What are (payment) intermediaries good for?," Journal of Payments Strategy & Systems, Henry Stewart Publications, vol. 17(2), pages 115-129, June.
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    JEL classification:

    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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