Jag Sidhu, Core Developer at Syscoin, on Scaling Bitcoin’s Utility and Creating AI-Ready Infrastructure for Crypto | Ep. 431

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April 17, 2025

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Jag Sidhu, Core Developer at Syscoin and CEO of SYS Labs, joined the Cryptonews Spotlight Podcast for a deep dive into the future of Bitcoin as programmable money, the challenge of building scalable, AI-ready infrastructure, and how Syscoin is positioning itself to lead the next wave of blockchain innovation.

With the launch of zkSYS mainnet and Syscoin 5, Sidhu shared his thoughts on macro volatility, AGI, and the importance of keeping value tied to Bitcoin.

Volatility Is the New Normal

“There’s a monetary reset happening before our eyes… This translates to volatility in the markets, and that volatility has hit its apex point.”

Sidhu sees current market chaos – sparked by Trump tariffs and shifting global alliances – as symptoms of a broader economic transition, one that will permanently increase volatility.

Bitcoin’s Identity: Commodity or Something More?

“Bitcoin is known as a commodity, and so it’s trading like a commodity… But if you look at the log chart, it has bucked the trend.”

While Bitcoin is classified and traded like a traditional risk asset, Sidhu argues that its long-term behavior shows a trajectory of outperformance and structural transformation.

The Syscoin Origin Story

“We’re probably top five out there that has been continuously evolving… 12-hour days for 10-plus years.”

Syscoin is one of the oldest surviving cryptocurrencies, built by OG Bitcoiners with the mission to scale Bitcoin’s utility – long before modular design became mainstream.

Scaling Bitcoin: Not Just for Coffee

“The story of Bitcoin may not be ‘let me send you money and buy coffee’… I believe it’s like a governance system.”

Sidhu envisions Bitcoin not as a retail payment tool, but as the base layer of programmable governance and capital allocation, secured by its hashpower.

Why Syscoin Chose a Sidechain Approach

“Our target research was to try to maximize the security… without making any new assumptions.”

Sidhu argues that existing Bitcoin rollups and bridges make security trade-offs, while Syscoin uses Bitcoin miners and metadata to enable trust-minimized interoperability.

The zkSYS Launch and What It Enables

“Once you get a sidechain, you have all sorts of flexibility… You can have rollups, DA, ZK compute platforms.”

The zkSYS mainnet enables modular expansion, with support for smart contracts, rollups, and advanced compute – all rooted in Bitcoin’s security.

The Limits of Ethereum’s PMF

“Let me do Uniswap or meme coins… Does that really add any value to the world?”

Sidhu questions whether Ethereum’s early product-market fit, like ICOs and memecoins, had lasting value – highlighting the need for more meaningful, utility-driven outcomes.

AI Will Redefine What Value Looks Like

“The competition in the world to create value is going to shift… I’m just going to launch a bunch of agents and compete with Apple.”

Sidhu believes AI will flatten competition, where a single person with agents could rival billion-dollar enterprises, creating massive surplus and redefining capital efficiency.

AI Agents Will Require On-Chain Infrastructure

“Deterministic AI and deterministic usage of on-chain services is going to be in demand.”

To avoid manipulation and ensure trust, Sidhu sees a future where AI agents interact directly with on-chain systems in a transparent, auditable way.

Security Is Why Bitcoin Still Matters

“Even if people are saying Ethereum with slashing is more secure… no one is still going to switch to that.”

For Sidhu, Bitcoin remains the gold standard of base-layer security, especially as non-custodial, immutable systems become critical for AI-governed financial activity.

BitVM and the Silver Bullet

“Before BitVM, we had no proper way to create a trust model that doesn’t break down.”

BitVM allows for emulated computation on Bitcoin, which Syscoin is integrating to create secure, interoperable environments for Bitcoin-based smart contracts.

The Need for AI-Ready Blockchains

“The first step we see is… making sure agents come on-chain without key leakage and manipulation.”

Sidhu’s roadmap includes privacy-preserving inference, deterministic agent behavior, and AI-compatible financial systems – all built on Bitcoin-secured infrastructure.

AI Will Replace 80% of Code Soon

“By the end of this year, 80% of the code is going to be done by AI… That’s wild.”

Sidhu predicts massive job displacement across tech, with AI writing most software within a year and creating demand for agent-based operating systems.

The Urgency of the Moment

“One or two years and it’s probably going to be big changes in our lives. Crazy times ahead.”

The rapid pace of change in AI, blockchain, and macroeconomics means builders need to prepare now, because the future won’t wait.