Robin Linus, the individual behind the BitVM whitepaper, has criticized Citrea for its allegedly misleading marketing tactics, claiming that the project’s promotional materials are filled with exaggerated claims and false statements.
Citrea, a zero-knowledge rollup project that recently raised $2.7 million in seed funding from Galaxy Ventures, has faced backlash for its marketing strategies. Linus, who is responsible for outlining a method to introduce Ethereum-like smart contract capabilities to Bitcoin, expressed his concerns in a post on May 30, accusing Citrea of falsely portraying a stronger connection to the BitVM project in order to attract investors and attention.
In response to Linus’s remarks, Orkun Kılıç, the co-founder of Chainway Labs, the group behind Citrea, defended the project by asserting that their marketing accurately reflects their technological advancements and expertise in zero-knowledge technology. Kılıç emphasized their team’s track record of innovation and expertise in the field.
Citrea aims to establish a layer of execution on top of the Bitcoin blockchain by utilizing zero-knowledge proofs to enhance the scalability of the Bitcoin ecosystem. Zero-knowledge proofs are cryptographic techniques that allow one party to prove knowledge of a value or information without disclosing the information itself, thus enhancing privacy and scalability in cryptocurrency transactions.
The project’s technical documentation indicates that Citrea’s proofs are integrated into Bitcoin and validated through BitVM. In February, Citrea secured nearly $3 million in funding from various investors, including Galaxy Ventures, Delphi Ventures, Eric Wall, and Anurag Arjun.
Pantera Capital, a crypto venture capital firm, highlighted the potential for Bitcoin to enter the decentralized finance (defi) space and attract significant value through decentralized applications (dApps). While Ethereum currently dominates the defi landscape, hosting the majority of related activities, Pantera Capital projects that Bitcoin-based dApps could potentially bring around $225 billion in value to the network, making it a key player in the crypto market.
In conclusion, while Bitcoin and Ethereum have not fully met the original expectations for cryptocurrencies, projects like Citrea are paving the way for innovation and growth in the industry.