Bitcoin Scaling Developments

Bitcoin scaling developers have released a new whitepaper on the second version of the Bitcoin Virtual Machine, BitVM2, along with an updated BitVM Bridge. Co-author Alexei Zamyatin, who is also a co-founder of the Bitcoin sidechain BOB, shared details on X on Thursday.

Key Features of BitVM2

The whitepaper outlines efforts to enhance transaction efficiency within the Bitcoin network by improving transaction handling capabilities and updating cryptographic methods in some instances.

Main Goal

The main objective of BitVM2 is to increase Bitcoin’s transaction capacity without altering its core code or principles, such as decentralization.

Optimistic Computation

BitVM2 uses optimistic computation for scaling Bitcoin with sidechains. It assumes that operators of these networks act honestly until challengers can prove otherwise through fraud proofs.

Permissionless System

The new version introduces a permissionless system that enables any user to challenge suspicious transactions, in contrast to the previous version, which restricted challenge rights to select parties.

Improvements to BitVM Bridge

Additionally, improvements to the BitVM Bridge focus on reducing capital requirements and shortening asset lock-up periods. These updates facilitate the transfer of bitcoins to and from rollups—secondary networks enabling faster and less costly transactions on Bitcoin.

Background

Robin Linus, the lead of the ZeroSync project, first introduced BitVM in October of last year.