Robin Linus, a Bitcoin developer and lead on the ZeroSync project, has proposed a new system called BitVM that can bring more advanced smart contract capabilities to Bitcoin. The core idea is to enable Turing-complete contracts that can theoretically perform any computation while keeping the verification of these contracts on the Bitcoin blockchain.
The architecture of BitVM is based on Ethereum’s optimistic rollups concept, where contract logic is executed off-chain but can be verified on-chain through fraud proofs. A “prover” makes claims about the result of computations, and a “verifier” can issue challenges if they believe the claim is fraudulent.
Some potential applications of BitVM highlighted in the whitepaper include games like chess or poker, verification of validity proofs, bridging Bitcoin to other blockchains, prediction markets based on Bitcoin, and emulating novel opcodes.
There are some limitations – BitVM relies on a two-party setup with a prover and verifier and requires significant off-chain computation and communication. However, it is enabled by Bitcoin’s Taproot soft fork from 2021. The whitepaper also builds on recent research into optimistic rollups and innovations in Merkle tree structures.
Reactions from the Bitcoin community are mixed. Some are excited by the possibilities, but urge caution until real-world experimentation is done. Others note there is already a proof-of-concept implementation on GitHub. Importantly, BitVM remains entirely opt-in – users don’t have to lock their coins into Turing complete contracts if they don’t want to.
Overall, BitVM expands Bitcoin’s capabilities for advanced contracts and computations without forcing changes on the base protocol or all users. The voluntary, opt-in nature maintains Bitcoin’s ethos. More research and testing is needed, but it shows promising ways forward for Bitcoin’s programmability.
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