-
Rootstock’s
new
plan
to
bring
programmability
to
Bitcoin
could
unfold
over
the
next
12
months. -
The
project
could
lead
to
the
development
of
layer-2
networks
atop
Bitcoin
without
requiring
any
major
changes
to
the
blockchain’s
underlying
code. -
Sergio
Demian
Lerner,
an
Argentine
developer
known
for
his
early
work
on
Satoshi
Nakamoto’s
bitcoin
stash,
discussed
the
project
Wednesday
at
the
Bitcoin++
developer
conference
in
Austin.
AUSTIN,
TEXAS
—
The
founder
of
Bitcoin
layer-2
protocol
Rootstock
has
detailed
plans
for
a
new
“BitVMX”
project
designed
to
improve
the
oldest
blockchain’s
programmability
by
keying
off
developer
Robin
Linus’s
much-discussed
“BitVM”
design
unveiled
last
year.
Sergio
Demian
Lerner,
a
Buenos
Aires-based
programmer
known
for
his
early
research
on
Bitcoin
founder
Satoshi
Nakamoto’s
mining
activities
and
later
for
contributing
to
the
Ethereum
blockchain’s
development,
discussed
the
project
onstage
Wednesday
at
the
Bitcoin++
conference
in
Austin,
Texas.
“We
have
a
roadmap
to
finish
this
in
one
year”
and
“we
are
moving
forward
at
full
speed,”
Lerner
said
during
the
presentation.
Linus’s
release
of
BitVM
last
year
has
been
widely
cited
by
Bitcoin
developers
as
a
breakthrough
for
the
15-year-old
blockchain
since
it
theoretically
would
facilitate
the
development
of
programmable
layer-2
networks
similar
to
those
that
are
being
used
in
the
Ethereum
blockchain
ecosystem
to
make
transactions
cheaper
and
faster.
Key
to
the
project’s
promise
is
that
BitVM
would
require
no
changes
to
the
underlying
Bitcoin
code
–
seen
as
crucial
due
to
the
blockchain’s
decentralized
governance,
often
lacking
consensus
among
developers
over
major
upgrades.
Lerner
had
disclosed
last
month
during
an
exclusive
interview
last
week
on
CoinDesk’s
The
Protocol
podcast
that
he
was
working
with
colleagues
on
the
new
project
without
providing
details.
Last
week,
Rootstock
Labs
published
a
blog
post
on
the
effort,
arguing
that
“theory
and
practice
are
two
very
different
things,”
referring
to
Linus’s
original
concept.
“The
BitVMX
research
team
intends
to
build
on
this
initial
discovery
with
additional
innovations
to
create
an
improved
development
framework
for
running
programs
on
Bitcoin,”
according
to
the
blog
post.
“The
name
is
a
nod
to
BitVMX’s
origins
while
highlighting
its
focus
on
extending
Bitcoin
and
accelerating
the
development
of
the
next
generation
of
sidechains
and
layer
2s.”
Rootstock
Labs
added
that
“a
team
of
core
contributors
is
working
on
a
public
roadmap
of
proposed
improvements
to
the
network
in
the
next
12
months.”
According
to
an
accompanying
whitepaper,
“BitVMX
framework
provides
the
foundations
to
run
any
CPU
on
Bitcoin,
with
a
focus
to
run
a
fully-compliant
RISC-V
processor
programmable
using
a
standard
compilation
toolchain”
–
a
technical
description
of
the
new
system
that
boils
down
to
facilitating
a
“myriad
of
use
cases.”