Developers Nicolas Dorier and Chris Stewart placed $10,000 on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, using, they say, the first smart contract in the Bitcoin mainnet.
I just entered in a bet via a DLC (with adaptor sig) with @Chris_Stewart_5 on the US elections.
He used https://t.co/mkXCUrNHLH
I used https://t.co/wgh1tP17i4 (not ready for others but me yet, will brush up this week and next week + vid) https://t.co/CKclefvG1F
— Nicolas Dorier (@NicolasDorier) September 8, 2020
Dorier and Stewart placed bets using Discreet Log Contracts (DLC). In the event of a Trump victory, the 1 BTC prize would go to Dorier. If Joe Biden wins the presidency, the money would go to his opponent. Under the terms of the deal, a third candidate’s victory would return the bets to the participants.
The smart-contract technology is actively used in applications on Ethereum, EOS and Tron. In Stewart’s view, Bitcoin should not cede this territory to altcoins.
“Bitcoin has many powerful building blocks that enable advanced applications,” he wrote.
According to the developers, the development of smart contracts on the Bitcoin network will boost its popularity and the BTC price.
Journalist Marty Bent called the appearance of the first DLC “a very important moment in Bitcoin’s history.” He added that wallet software will soon appear that will enable anyone to create contracts based on this technology.
“Slowly but surely, Bitcoin continues its slow and steady approach to development,” Bent wrote.
The idea for contracts of this type belongs to Tadge Dryja, one of the leading Lightning Network developers. Last year he proposed the Utreexo solution, whose main aim is to simplify the management of full nodes on the Bitcoin network.
The advantage of DLC-based contracts over other types lies in scalability and enhanced privacy. In the case of Discreet Log, participants can enter into an agreement that provides for a future event: Bitcoin price at a given moment or the outcome of a football match.
As noted, the Atomic Loans team is building a crypto-lending on-chain protocol for Bitcoin users. The solution uses a non-custodial escrow account, enabling BTC to be locked as collateral to obtain DeFi services.
Follow ForkLog’s news on Twitter!