New Developments in Bitcoin Sidechains: Introducing BitVM2

Robin Linus has released a whitepaper detailing BitVM2 and the BitVM Bridge, two innovative enhancements that provide substantial advancements over the initial BitVM version.

The team behind the Bitcoin Virtual Machine (BitVM) has introduced a second iteration of their sidechain, known as “BitVM2,” along with the BitVM Bridge, which promises significant enhancements to the original platform.

On August 15, BitVM co-founder Alexei Zamyatin shared insights from a new whitepaper regarding the operational framework of BitVM2 and the BitVM Bridge.

Originally launched by Robin Linus, the BitVM project aimed to enable off-chain smart contracts within the Bitcoin ecosystem without necessitating a soft fork. The new iteration focuses on improving accessibility and efficiency.

A key feature of BitVM2 is its “permissionless” nature, allowing any user to challenge dubious transactions with just three transactions needed to initiate a challenge. This is a major shift from the previous version, which required up to 70 transactions and restricted challenge requests to a limited group of participants.

Key Functions of BitVM

The primary goal of BitVM2 is to support a rollup network built on Bitcoin, enhancing transaction processing efficiency while maintaining the same security standards as Bitcoin’s core blockchain.

• BitVM Bridge enables secure Bitcoin transfers to the rollup with reduced lock-up durations.
• Lower initial capital outlay for users.

The whitepaper was developed by Robin Linus and a team that includes Zamyatin, Lukas Aumayr, Andrea Pelosi, Zeta Avirikioti, and Matteo Maffei.

BitVM was initially introduced in a whitepaper titled “BitVM: Compute Anything on Bitcoin”, enabling Turing-complete contracts on Bitcoin without modifying consensus rules.

This launch spurred growth in the Bitcoin ecosystem, leading to the emergence of various layer-2 networks and rollups aimed at enhancing Bitcoin’s scalability.

Developers emphasize that BitVM’s primary aim is to scale Bitcoin rather than replicate Ethereum-style decentralized finance applications within the Bitcoin framework.

A pseudonymous developer involved with BitVM stated in October 2023 that the main ambition of the project is to drastically increase Bitcoin’s scalability.

“The real killer app is scaling Bitcoin. [Robin Linus isn’t] a big fan of smart contracts… He really is interested in making it so that Bitcoin can process millions of transactions per second.”

This vision includes maintaining Bitcoin’s integrity and avoiding the influx of tokens similar to Ethereum’s, thereby minimizing potential risks associated with bad actors and ensuring the stability of the Bitcoin ecosystem.