Co-Founder and former executive director of Ledger, Eric Larchevêque – a French company specializing in safety solutions – Bitcoin – specializing in Bitcoin. In a recently published reflection on Social Network X, Larchevêque questioned the idea that Bitcoin should be replaced by a more modern, quick or functional version. “One day, Bitcoin will be replaced by a faster, more modern version,” he quotes as a common belief, dismissing it.
“This is a general idea, and it seems logical to apply the usual patterns of innovation. However, it ignores a vision that is specifically fundamentally different from the nature of Bitcoin.”
Larchevêque, former CEO of Ledger.
French businessmen, people who invest in Bitcoin are not only financially but also philosophical – They are not looking for a “better” version of the protocol. “We don’t want faster Bitcoin. It’s not Bitcoin that can process more transactions per second. It’s not Bitcoin with additional characteristics such as intelligent contracts.
Larchevêque highlights that Bitcoin is not competing in carriers for innovation that characterizes other networks Like Ethereum, Solana, Cardano. “It’s an exciting tech game, but it’s also an exclusion game. Natural selection would have done its job in 10 years,” he warns. Bitcoin, by contrast, is defined by its resistance to change, limited emissions, and decentralized properties.
“Bitcoin is about freedom to own, and to maintain that freedom, Bitcoin has to continue doing so: a decentralized, immutable and highly resilient system,” says Rashebek, who led the ledger between 2014 and 2019 and later as president of the board.
He acknowledges that Bitcoin can evolve in the face of existential threats, like Quantum Computing. Change must be slow, agreed and consistent with the underlying values of the protocol. “As long as this cultural stability is prevalent, Bitcoin will not change. It has been a project for centuries and will remain relevant within 100 years,” he concludes.
For Larchevêque, imagine Bitcoin 2.0. “It simply doesn’t make sense.” According to him, the historical alignment that enabled the emergence of Bitcoin – generalized indifference, decentralized growth, lack of leadership – It’s not possible to repeat. And he says it makes it a truly irreplaceable asset.
As reported by Cryptonotics, Eric Larchevêque lamented in 2023 the crises of trust that ledgers were experiencing, thanks to what was considered a bad marketing strategy in their presentations for Ledger Recover. This is an optional feature of Ledger Live to easily recover private keys without using encrypted backups, but it requires confidence from third parties And he joined this company as an unpleasant intermediary.
This discussion remains for ledgers, but not raised by the recent retirement of technical assistance to the company’s most used portfolio, Wallet Leisure Nano.