The Bitcoin BitVM proposal could bring the program to the network.

A new proposal is making the rounds on crypto social media that would allow random calculations to be verified and implemented without the need for a soft fork on the Bitcoin network. Proponents claim that BitVM will bring Ethereum-like smart contracts to the ecosystem.

On October 9, Bitcoin developer Robin Linus released a white paper for BitVM stating that “Any computable function can be verified with Bitcoin.”

BitVM for Bitcoin smart contracts

Asked for a simpler explanation, Linus replied:

“This will enable more transparent Bitcoin contracts. In particular, it will enable the functionality we thought we needed for soft forks. It could enable trustless sidechains, but that hasn't been fully resolved yet.”

Linus is the developer of ZeroSync, which was established to help scale Bitcoin using zero-knowledge proofs.

The system works by breaking down complex calculations into simple logic gates. These gateways can perform the required calculations using Bitcoin scripts and chaining.

Linus claims it is a Turing complete system, which is theoretically capable of answering any computational problem. The November 2021 Taproot soft fork, which also optimized plaintext, enables BitVM.

X user Sam Parker says it enables almost anything you want to enable and is “very similar in spirit” to the Lightning Network. He added:

“Running this protocol in the Lightning Channel would be a real power play in private.”

Bitcoiner Dylan LeClair adds that it's like LN in that it uses multiple signatures. This, he said, would enable building transactions, applications and contracts beyond bitcoin with on-chain verification and consensus.

According to cryptographer Adam Buck, people shouldn't be excited about the development just yet.

Overall, BitVM opens up new possibilities for Bitcoin smart contracts and computation without having to convert Bitcoin itself.

Possible damages

Decentralization advocate and crypto critic Chris Blake questioned ChatGipt for its disadvantages and came up with a long list.

Encoding complex computations requires generating large logic chains and many pre-signed transactions with high storage and bandwidth requirements.

Additionally, Bitcoin's on-chain settlement is slow and may increase transaction costs if not integrated with Lightning as suggested.

In summary, BitVM is powerful but has some disadvantages stemming from data requirements, lack of scalability, privacy issues, and participation requirements.