Bitcoin’s True Power Lies in Payments—Store of Value Is Just a ’Neat Byproduct,’ Declares BitVM Creator

Forget digital gold—Bitcoin's real revolution is happening at the checkout counter.

BitVM's architect just dropped a truth bomb that's rattling crypto traditionalists: Bitcoin's primary design serves payments first, with store of value emerging as merely what he calls 'a neat byproduct.' This isn't some theoretical musing—it's a fundamental shift in how we understand Satoshi's creation.

Why Payments Are Bitcoin's Core DNA

The protocol's architecture—its decentralized validation, fixed supply cap, and peer-to-peer settlement—creates a payment system that doesn't beg for permission from banks or governments. That's the main event. The store-of-value narrative? That emerged organically as users recognized Bitcoin's scarcity and durability—not because it was the original blueprint.

Implications for the Financial Ecosystem

This perspective realigns Bitcoin's competitive battlefield. It's not just fighting gold or bonds; it's taking aim at Visa, Swift, and every intermediary that skims value from transactions. Imagine cutting out the financial middlemen—the same ones who still can't decide if crypto is a threat or an opportunity—while building a more open economic layer.

One cynical finance jab? Traditional bankers will probably dismiss this until their fee revenue starts bleeding out—then they'll launch a 'blockchain task force' to study it.

Bottom line: Bitcoin was built to move value, not just hold it. And that distinction changes everything.

Bitcoin as a method of payment

Bitcoin was fundamentally created as a means of payment, a real FORM of electronic cash for private, peer-to-peer transactions, while its store of value status appeared later as an added benefit. As BitVM creator Robin Linus states:

“Bitcoin’s purpose is payments—store of value is just a neat byproduct.”

Over time, the dominant narrative around Bitcoin has shifted heavily toward “digital gold” and institutional investment, and many influential voices, like Dorsey and Linus, argue this misses the project’s original spirit and shortchanges its long-term relevance. Linus reinforced the historical perspective, declaring:

“The cypherpunk vision was clearly electronic cash for private, peer-to-peer payments. The ‘digital asset’ narrative came later from others. Strange that this is even controversial”.

Dorsey doubled down on his statement, saying:

“I think it has to be payments for it to be relevant on the everyday, otherwise, it’s just something you kind of buy and forget and only use in emergency situations or when you want to get liquid again. So I think if it doesn’t transition to payments and find that everyday use case, it just gets increasingly irrelevant. And that’s failure to me.”

Satoshi’s words leave no doubt

Satoshi Nakamoto’s very first communications, emails, and the infamous Bitcoin whitepaper make it clear that Bitcoin is about e-cash, currency, money, and payments. His intentions for Bitcoin as a method of payment are unambiguous.

In early emails with Adam Back in 2008, Satoshi described Bitcoin as a breakthrough method for building peer-to-peer electronic currency, referencing previous digital cash projects and focusing on payments.

He wrote about proof-of-work as a way to enable currency on a distributed timestamp server, making the intent for payments crystal clear.

Changing narratives: from currency to asset

Over the years, the narrative has shifted. Institutionalization arrived in the form of ETFs, “Number Go Up” (NGU)-focused marketing, and conversations about Bitcoin as a portfolio hedge.

While bringing liquidity and broader acceptance, these changes have arguably moved the ecosystem away from solutions that benefit everyday people and real-world payment use cases; a divergence from Satoshi’s vision.

While Bitcoin’s rise as a store of value has been notorious, it has overshadowed its true foundation in private, peer-to-peer, digital payments.

Some of the project’s strongest voices, Dorsey, Linus, Swan, and even Satoshi himself, remind the community that genuine, universal utility depends on embracing Bitcoin as money in action, not just money in storage.

Bitcoin Audible host Guy Swann called for a serious public debate, tagging the likes of Dorsey and Linus, and other influential Bitcoin community members like Michael Saylor, Saifedean Ammous, and Adam Back:

“I want the best here who will bring real arguments. Not just taglines, moral posturing, and quotes from the whitepaper.”

Relegating Bitcoin to a mere store of value risks losing the original vision and utility that once set it apart. The future of Bitcoin as a method of payment depends on a community willing to challenge prevailing narratives and restore focus on payments and real-world adoption.