{"id":85576,"date":"2023-10-11T11:30:16","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T08:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=85576"},"modified":"2025-09-13T00:09:44","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T21:09:44","slug":"developer-finds-a-way-to-expand-bitcoin-smart-contract-capabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/developer-finds-a-way-to-expand-bitcoin-smart-contract-capabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Developer finds a way to expand Bitcoin smart contract capabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ZeroSync co-founder Robin Linus unveiled the BitVM mechanism to expand Bitcoin&#8217;s smart contract capabilities without requiring a network upgrade.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\" data-lang=\\\"en\\\">\n<p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">&#8216;Any computable function can be verified on Bitcoin&#8217; <a href=\\\"https:\/\/t.co\/Itf9UHos0C\\\">https:\/\/t.co\/Itf9UHos0C<\/a> <a href=\\\"https:\/\/t.co\/CLQv49Ydsg\\\">pic.twitter.com\/CLQv49Ydsg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 robin linus (@robin_linus) <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/robin_linus\/status\/1711378768059584723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">October 9, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\\\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>According to Linus, the solution allows the protocol to verify any computable function, with full Turing completeness.<\/p>\n<p>The system does not require changes to consensus rules. Instead of performing computations on-chain, they are simply verified, similar to Optimistic-<a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-are-rollups-and-how-do-they-scale-ethereum\">rollups<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>BitVM uses for interaction between the prover and verifier a request-response protocol, fraud proofs, and <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-taproot\">Taproot<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Linus noted that even executing &#8216;large programs&#8217; would have a minimal impact on the network.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\\\">\n<p>&#8216;As long as both parties cooperate, they can perform arbitrarily complex off-chain computations without leaving traces on the chain. On-chain execution is required only in the event of a dispute,&#8217; the developer emphasised.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He identified the main drawback of the proposed model as the limitation of bidirectional configuration with a prover and verifier. Another &#8216;minus&#8217;, Linus said, was the need for a large amount of off-chain computations. These questions are expected to be addressed in subsequent research.<\/p>\n<p>The developer argues that BitVM opens doors to more expressive Bitcoin contracts, which are at heart reducible to basic operations.<\/p>\n<p>Potential use cases include gaming applications like chess, Go or poker, as well as verifying proofs. The mechanism also enables connecting Bitcoin to other networks, creating a prediction market and simulating new operation codes.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\\\">\n<p>&#8216;This is probably the most exciting discovery in the history of Bitcoin scripting. It seems to open virtually all doors and give us access to <a href=\\\"https:\/\/ru.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82_(%D1%8E%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BF%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F)\\\">\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0435\u043d\u0430\u043d\u0442\u0430\u043c<\/a>, sidechains and capabilities similar to Liquid or <span data-descr=\\\"Ethereum Virtual Machine, the Ethereum virtual machine\\\" class=\\\"old_tooltip\\\">EVM<\/span>, all at once, without forks. I can\\&#8217;t wait to publish my demo version,&#8217; wrote the programmer under the alias Super Testnet.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The reviewer Sam Parker <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/zkchesterton\/status\/1711421528300982414\\\">noted<\/a> that BitVM makes Bitcoin effectively Turing complete, like any other chain.<\/p>\n<p>Paradigm researcher Dan Robinson did not share that view. He argues that the mechanism implements only <a href=\\\"https:\/\/ru.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/%D0%A4%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%BA%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B0\\\">functional completeness<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bob Bodily, CEO of the Ordinals platform Bioniq, described as the main advantage of BitVM its ready-made augmentation to Bitcoin\u2019s programmability without upgrades. However, the researcher warned:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\\\">\n<p>&#8216;This is not a panacea. No, BitVM is not as good as the EVM \u2014 slower, more expensive and more complex.&#8217;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\" data-lang=\\\"en\\\">\n<p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">BitVM: Everything you need to know (and more\u2026)<\/p>\n<p>BitVM is a new Optimistic Roll Up + Fraud Proof + Taproot Leaf + Bitcoin Script computing paradigm designed by Robin Linus at Zero Sync. They published an excellent white paper this morning reviewed by Super Testnet and Sam Parker\u2026 <a href=\\\"https:\/\/t.co\/9rjIZZrSSI\\\">pic.twitter.com\/9rjIZZrSSI<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bob Bodily, PhD ? | #BTC #ETH #ICP (@BobBodily) <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BobBodily\/status\/1711581484254192013?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">October 10, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\\\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The system also does not address the reliability of bridges to sidechains, he added.<\/p>\n<p>Blockstream chief Adam Back <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/adam3us\/status\/1711416337975652841\\\">said<\/a> that despite the hype, the solution &#8216;is essentially a generalisation of the bidirectional game&#8217; and may run into pragmatic scalability limits. Linus disputed his claims.<\/p>\n<p>In March, ZeroSync <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/zerosync-to-bring-zero-knowledge-proofs-to-bitcoin\">announced<\/a> the creation of tools to scale Bitcoin using <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-zero-knowledge-proof\">zero-knowledge proofs<\/a> (ZKP).<\/p>\n<p>In October, the project <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/zerosync-deploys-the-first-lightweight-zk-client-for-bitcoin\">implemented<\/a> the first client system for the Bitcoin block-header chain based on ZK-STARK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ZeroSync co-founder Robin Linus introduced the BitVM mechanism to extend Bitcoin&#8217;s smart contract capabilities without requiring a network upgrade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":85577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18,1150,54],"class_list":["post-85576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-bitcoin","tag-news-plus","tag-smart-contracts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"28","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85576"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85578,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85576\/revisions\/85578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}