Computing on Bitcoin #76
February 13, 2026 - Week 07
Welcome to a new edition of Computing on Bitcoin News.
Bitcoin’s evolution continues to accelerate, driven by research, engineering, and an expanding Layer 2 ecosystem.
Every week, we explore fresh perspectives shaping Bitcoin’s next phase of development.
Let's dive in.
GOAT Network published an in-depth article outlining the evolution from BitVM to BitVM2 and introducing GOAT BitVM2 as a production-oriented settlement layer for Bitcoin-native zkRollups.
goat.network/blog
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Why Bitcoin Needs Second Layers - A BitVM Story
Roughly two years after receiving the first Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi, Hal Finney wrote that Bitcoin cannot scale to have “every single financial transaction in the world” broadcast and included on-chain, and that “there needs to be a secondary level of payment systems” that is “lighter weight and more efficient”.
Isabel Foxen Duke published an interview with Pieter Wuille covering the history of SegWit, Taproot, and key milestones in Bitcoin Core development, including non-softfork scaling approaches and BitVM.
Bitcoin Development History | with Pieter Wuille
youtube.com/@BitcoinRails
A primary maintainer of Bitcoin Core from 2011-2022, Pieter Wuille is arguably the most influential developer in Bitcoin’s history since Satoshi himself.
A new article by House of ZK presents a 2026 reality check on Bitcoin L2s, arguing that only systems with Bitcoin-enforced exits, enabled by BitVM technology, deserve the L2 label.
— House of ZK (@HouseofZK) February 6, 2026
A new CoinDesk podcast episode features Stacks co-creator Muneeb Ali discussing renewed innovation across Bitcoin’s Layer 1 and Layer 2 ecosystem, and why Ali views BitVM as a potential game changer for the network.
coindesk.com/podcasts
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Stacks’ Muneeb Ali On Why Bitcoin Is Exciting Once Again
On this episode of Unchained recorded at the Bitcoin Builders conference, Muneeb explores the complexities and advancements within Bitcoin's Layer 1 and Layer 2. He shares his perspectives on what's fueling innovation in Bitcoin's Layer 1 and discusses the implications of Ordinal Inscriptions amid criticism of it by core developers.
A new article by Ribhav Modi explores how Bitcoin is evolving beyond “digital gold” in 2026 through Lightning, Stacks, Rootstock, and emerging rollup designs, highlighting BitVM as a key experiment in enabling more expressive computation.
towardsdev.com
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Bitcoin L2s: How Bitcoin Is Becoming More Than “Digital Gold” in 2026
When I first got into Web3, Bitcoin felt like a finished story. It was “digital gold.” You bought some, maybe dollar cost averaged a bit, watched the price, and that was it. If you wanted to build apps, NFTs, DeFi, or anything interactive, you went to Ethereum or another smart contract chain. Bitcoin was the quiet, reliable asset in the background, not the platform you built on.
As scaling models mature and verification mechanisms improve, the boundaries of what can be built on Bitcoin continue to expand.
We’ll keep tracking the breakthroughs and discussions defining this transition.
See you next week!
-The Fairgate Team