BitcoinOS successfully verifies the first zk proof on the Bitcoin mainnet: block 853626 enters history

Yesterday, a new milestone was written within the Bitcoin blockchain, adding the first zk proof to a block of the mainnet.

The BitcoinOS rollup developer has verified block 853626 containing the zk computational proof, unlocking a phase of new network features.

Thanks to these technical improvements, Bitcoin manages to become more efficient in terms of blockspace, and it becomes increasingly similar to an operating system.

Let’s see all the details below.

The BitcoinOS rollup adds the first zk proof in history to the Bitcoin mainnet

Yesterday at 23:22 UTC, the BitcoinOS (BOS) rollup protocol successfully verified the first zk proof on the Bitcoin mainnet.

The block 853626, added to the chain by the miner Foundry USA, officially enters the history of the blockchain as it inaugurates new functionalities previously unimaginable.

Bitcoin thus improves its own scalability and expands its own network capacity, all without requiring a soft fork, with all the associated risks.

As indeed reported in an interview by the BitcoinOS collaborator Edan Yago: 

“Every time a soft fork occurs, not only is a greater risk introduced into the system… but significant frictions are also created within the user community”

BitcoinOS acts as a Superchain for the Bitcoin layer, in the form of a chain that powers various trustless, interoperable rollups and guaranteed by the security of the L1.

This infrastructure, which operates outside the mainnet but communicates with the main layer through zk proof, allows the network to adapt to a more complex use compared to the canonical exchange of value.

The team of this project will talk about the great milestone achieved during the Bitcoin-themed event in Nashville that will take place today.

Their goal is to unlock unlimited features on the most decentralized blockchain in the world, making feasible thanks to zk proof what until today was considered impossible

To celebrate the result BitcoinOS has also developed a block explorer for zk transactions, in order to facilitate the reading of on-chain transactions.

The Lightning Network becomes obsolete

The developers of this rollup, by launching the first zk proof on the Bitcoin mainnet, have effectively rendered some scalability solutions like the Lightning Network obsolete.

This second-layer network, for example, requires users to trust centralized companies and corporations in order to use the lightning channels safely.

Furthermore, the L2 presents a liquidity between channels significantly lower compared to the mainnet and therefore is still very far from being able to host larger transactions.

Although it has been the preferred network by bitcoiners for daily micropayments, now with the arrival of rollups it risks losing its appeal.

Solutions like BitcoinOS do not in fact require relying on intermediaries, leveraging the security of the central Bitcoin network.

The zk proof integrate more privacy and scalability, increasing the possible connections with the DeFi world and introducing new use cases.

As described by the collaborator Edan Yago in a recent interview:

“Unfortunately, Lightning Network has been a highly overrated scalability solution.

As a technology, since it is pre-funded and since it is necessary to move from one player to another, it is suitable only for a very limited number of niche applications.

The Bitcoin blockchain takes on the appearance of Ethereum as an operating system

With the arrival of the first zk proof on a Bitcoin block, the blockchain of Satoshi Nakamoto becomes increasingly similar to Ethereum.

By adding scalability and introducing smart contracts, Bitcoin can fulfill the role of a “global computer” so desired by Vitalik Buterin. Even better, as Edan Yago of BitcoinOS describes, the network could become a “operating system” that powers a series of decentralized applications. 

Thus Bitcoin shifts from the definition of “layer del valore” moving more towards a conception of a platform for decentralized services and activities.

These are the words of Yago in which he presents the enhancement of the Bitcoin infrastructure:

“It is also an operating system and a platform on which it is possible to build the entire world of decentralized applications. […] This marks a chapter in which Ethereum, Solana, and all other level 1 projects are no longer safe from Bitcoin’s competition.”

For those who are not aware, rollup and zk proof enable faster transactions on a network as they require less computational power to be verified.

They represent a cryptographic tool, typical of the EVM networks of Ethereum, which demonstrates that off-chain information is true without revealing the information itself.

Furthermore, the zk proof are contained in batch and therefore contain dozens of transactions within them, contributing to reducing the demand for blockspace for Bitcoin.

In this regard, Yago explained the implications of creating ZK proofs with these words:

“A single Bitcoin transaction can now be used for private transactions and for things like smart contracts.”

The rollup of BitconOS was built with stake BitVM, while the software verification library zk is Succincted Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge (zk-SNARK) of BOS, BitSNARK.

The peculiarity of BitSNARK is that it allows developers to create trustless bridges to move BTC.

Other rollup solutions that integrate zk proof to the Bitcoin network

Despite BitcoinOS having received the primacy as the first rollup to verify a zk proof on the mainnet, we must remember that there are also other competitors.

One of these is the cryptographic company StakWare, deeply engaged in the zk field with also Ethereum’s L2 Starknet. The cryptographic developer, just a few days ago, also verified a zk proof on Bitcoin, however passing through the Signet test network.

Starkware by doing so has laid the foundations for greater development on the blockchain, implementing greater scalability and new opportunities for interoperability.

Citrea is also pursuing the path of developing zk-rollup solutions on Bitcoin.

In June, it announced the launch in public devnet of its zk proof-based scaling network, with Bitcoin serving as Data Availability (DA).

Citrea believes that thanks to the recent SegWit and Taproot updates, it is finally possible to register data within individual transactions, unlocking new potential.

Finally, even Bitcoin Virtual Machine believes that the future of Bitcoin is marked by zk and that without scalability, mass adoption cannot be achieved.

The team of this project is building a platform that allows developers to launch their own zk-VM blockchain without the need to develop code.

The cost to rely on the security of BTC and leverage zero-knowledge computational proofs in a proprietary chain is 99 dollars per month.