- BitcoinOS, developers of rollups for Bitcoin, claim to have verified the first zero-knowledge proof on the Bitcoin mainnet.
- This milestone is expected to herald a new era of scalability on Bitcoin as the team intends to build a super layer of interoperable layer 2 rollups on the Bitcoin mainnet.
BitcoinOS, a development team building a network of interoperable layer 2 chains on Bitcoin, claims to have verified the first zero-knowledge proof on the Bitcoin network. Zero-knowledge proofs (zk proofs) allow a party to prove that a statement is true without revealing information about the statement.
ZK proofs are the cryptographic protocol that powers networks like zkSync and can form the basis of secure, decentralised layer 2 networks because a cryptographic method for proving that off-chain information is true without revealing the information is needed to build rollups on a network like Bitcoin.
According to BitcoinOS, “the achievement unlocks unlimited scaling and functionality on Bitcoin without requiring additional changes to Bitcoin’s base layer”. Unlike other scaling solutions, like Stacks, which run sidechains, BitcoinOS will run rollups directly on the Bitcoin mainnet.
Bitcoin’s Growing Use Cases
Until now, all ZK proofs have been on networks like Ethereum that possess native smart contract functionality. Smart contract-like functionality on the Bitcoin mainnet has been limited to Ordinal technology and, more recently, Runes.
Ordinals brought about the proliferation of NFTs and memecoins on Bitcoin as the creation of the BRC-20 standard led to a new era of transactions and increased earnings for Bitcoin miners. It has also led to network congestion and increased transaction fees.
The Future of the Bitcoin Mainnet
Bitcoin is slowly moving away from its initial role as sound money to “permaware, [which is] more reliable and permanent than any other chain or software”, according to Eden Yago, core contributor to BitcoinOS.
According to the team, ZK-proofs will render sidechains obsolete and allow users to bridge their Bitcoin back and forth between rollups in a near-trustless manner.
The team intends to present a live demonstration of BitcoinOS’ capabilities at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville.
