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In early October 2023, the acclaimed blockchain developer Robin Linus released the white paper for BitVM, a computational engine for smart contract–like functionality on the Bitcoin chain. Linus is a prominent figure in the industry, having created ZeroSync, a zero-knowledge proof protocol for Bitcoin. His latest innovation, BitVM, has the potential to impact the industry on a much more profound level than the ZeroSync platform.
By enabling smart contract functionality for the Bitcoin network, BitVM has the potential to leverage the massive army of Bitcoin holders and traders. Currently, smart contracts and decentralized apps (DApps) are firmly associated with Ethereum (ETH) and other smart chains. Yet, the world’s largest chain — Bitcoin — eschews the ongoing DApp revolution. BitVM is the latest and probably most promising technology that’s about to change the status quo.
Key Takeaways:
BitVM is a computational engine designed to enable Turing-complete Bitcoin smart contracts, which would enable a variety of Bitcoin-based DApps.
BitVM processes transactions mostly off-chain, which minimizes the computational load on Bitcoin’s blockchain.
Unlike Ethereum’s EVM, which supports multi-party operations, BitVM is limited to two-party transactions. However, developers could explore combining BitVM with Layer 2 solutions for Bitcoin’s network that work around this limitation.