“We Can’t Keep Tinkering with Bitcoin”: Why Sergio Lerner Believes the Future Lies in the Upper Layers

In the crypto ecosystem, there are figures who not only build technology but also deeply understand the philosophy behind Bitcoin. One of them is Sergio Demian Lerner, co-founder of Rootstock (RSK), the sidechain that brings smart contracts to the Bitcoin world without sacrificing security.

He recently made a statement that sparked discussions in the community:

“We can’t keep tinkering with Bitcoin.”

And he didn’t say it as a criticism. He said it as someone who has spent more than a decade studying, strengthening, and building upon Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Has Already Fulfilled Its Fundamental Purpose

For Lerner, Bitcoin has already reached its “definitive personality”:
it is a solid store of value, so solid that any change to its base protocol is extremely complex and potentially delicate.

Not because Bitcoin is “fragile,” but precisely because it is too important.

Modifying it requires achieving global consensus, coordinating thousands of actors, and, most crucially, not breaking anything.

That's why he argues:

Bitcoin shouldn't be a laboratory for rapid innovations. Its base layer must remain as stable as possible.

If Bitcoin isn't touched… where does innovation happen?

In the upper layers.

This is where Rootstock comes in, the project Lerner helped found to address that need:
smart contracts, DeFi applications, speed, low cost… but without altering the core of Bitcoin.

The idea is simple and powerful:
Bitcoin is the rock.

Rootstock (and other Layer 2 technologies) are the terrain where digital cities are built without compromising the rock that supports them.

For him, innovation has to move outward, not inward, from the protocol.

And in his vision, Bitcoin only requires one thing:
that it be easy and secure to move funds from the base layer to these secondary layers.

The “Escape Velocity”: The Minimum for a System to Be Independent of Constant Changes

Lerner uses a concept borrowed from the crypto world and physics: escape velocity.

A system reaches its “escape velocity” when it no longer needs constant adjustments to continue functioning and growing.

For him, Bitcoin has already reached that velocity.

From here on out, expansion occurs externally: more tools, more contracts, more bridges, more ecosystem… but without touching the core of the protocol.

The Great Obsession: Secure and Decentralized Bridges

The critical piece for all of this to work is a bridge between Bitcoin and Layer 2 that is truly decentralized, resilient, and reliable.

That's where Lerner is focusing much of his energy with technologies like BitVMX and the Union bridge.

His obsession is clear:
the bridge must operate under a model where a single honest actor is sufficient to prevent funds from being stolen.

A radically different approach from traditional multi-signature bridges, which rely on trust in multiple custodians.

His ultimate vision for Bitcoin: a complete economic ecosystem

Lerner isn't just thinking about smart contracts.

He envisions a future with stablecoins fully collateralized by Bitcoin, without banks, without dollars, without intermediaries.

A “decentralized dollar” made for Bitcoin, from Bitcoin, and backed by Bitcoin.

In that scenario, Bitcoin wouldn't just be a store of value:
it would be the foundation of a global, open, and permissionless financial system.

And yes: he remains incredibly optimistic about the price

For him, volatility is noise.

Scarcity and decentralization are the signal.

And that signal, according to Lerner, points to long-term growth.

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Conclusion:

Lerner doesn't want us to stop innovating.

He wants us to stop experimenting with the engine and start building the highways, cities, and applications on top of it.

Bitcoin, in his view, is already perfect in its essence.

What's missing now is expanding it responsibly, securely, and without compromising what makes it so valuable:
its simplicity, its stability, and its immutability.