A new research paper “BitVM” can bring Ethereum programming to Bitcoin

Robert Linus – project leader at the Bitcoin development group ZeroSync – developers have proposed a new system that allows you to calculate anything on Bitcoin, which is similar to the neighboring kriptovalyutnoy network.

Unlike other proposals to expand BitVM's capabilities, “BitVM” does not require any changes to Bitcoin's code, which could cause the network and community to diverge over debate.

What is BitVM?

According to the project's white paper published on Monday, BitVM is a “computational method for defining Turing complete Bitcoin contracts.”

Instead of performing complex calculations on the blockchain itself, the system suggests that they are “verified” on Bitcoin. Linus likened the system to Bright Scrolls — an Ethereum scaling solution that processes multiple transactions off-chain before posting them to the main chain in batches.

“This enables more transparent Bitcoin contracts,” Linus tweeted. “It enables the functionality that we thought we wanted in a particularly soft fork.”

Linus said this could make games like “chess, go or poker” possible on Bitcoin. He also suggested that it would enable “trustless sidechains” for Bitcoin, meaning that BTC could be securely connected to other networks without the need to centralize it, although this possibility is unlikely to last.

The Bitcoin community has heatedly debated the implementation of the “Drivechains” update this year, which would create a system for trustless bridges and blind pooled mining of Bitcoin. In theory, this could make BTC transactions more personal, programmable and efficient.

However, the implementation and coordination concerns of the amendment, which would change the rules of the Bitcoin consensus, have caused many to question the idea. According to Paul Sztorc, author of Drivechains, Drivechains is “not very efficient” compared to his own idea, but it is possible through BitVM.

Limitations of BitVM

Like most proposals, Linus said BitVM still has limitations. “The main disadvantage … is that a large amount of off-chain computation and communication is required to execute programs,” he says, adding that the two-party setup is only supportive and verifiable.

Although it generated over 2.4 million impressions on Twitter, many developers were quick to overhype the project.

“This is getting a lot of attention in the Bitcoin world,” said Dan Robinson, a researcher at Paradigm. “The protocol only works for two parties, so it cannot be used in bundles or other multiparty applications.”

Blockstream CEO and Bitcoin OG Adam Back, in Greg Maxwell's Zero Knowledge Contingent Payment (ZKCP) system from 2016, pointed out that there is a different version of Linus' idea.

But Linus says there are key differences. “You can't play chess in a ZKCP,” he said.