Computing on Bitcoin #65
November 14, 2025 - Week 46
Welcome to a new Computing on Bitcoin News edition, from our hometown Buenos Aires!
These weeks, our city has become the center of everything that's happening in Bitcoin and crypto, with LABITCONF and DEVCONNECT taking place just a few days apart.
To expand on this exciting momentum, our second event will take place this Sunday Nov 16th, to dive deeper on everything BitVMX related, showing how this platform can help scaling projects to unleash Bitcoin's potential.
Check the newsletter to find out about the many activities that are taking place in the city, and enjoy November in Buenos Aires!
Let's dive in.
Fairgate introduced OTS-PC (One-Time Signature Payment Channels), a novel Lightning-compatible channel design that replaces complex revocation schemes with simple hash-based one-time signatures. Developed by Sergio Lerner, OTS-PCs simplify channel state management, reduce watchtower storage, and enhance privacy.
fairgate.io/publications
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OTS-PC: Simplifying Lightning Channels with One-Time Signatures
Payment channels are at the heart of Bitcoin scalability. Over the years, designs like Poon-Dryja, Eltoo, and Outpost have progressively refined how two parties can exchange funds instantly and privately, without congesting the blockchain. Yet, these systems still carry trade-offs: complex channel states, storage-heavy watchtowers, and incomplete privacy.
The new OTS-based Payment Channels (OTS-PCs), developed by Fairgate, propose a streamlined solution built on hash-based One-Time Signatures (OTS). This approach replaces the intricate revocation mechanisms of current Lightning channels with a simple yet secure commitment structure based on sequence numbers.
Citrea published a post explaining the trusted setup ceremony for its BitVM-based bridge, Clementine, a crucial step to securely generate the zkSNARK parameters that enable on-chain proof verification on Bitcoin.
blog.citrea.xyz
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What's a trusted setup ceremony and why does Clementine need one?
Citrea uses the RISC Zero zkVM to produce STARK-based proofs for execution proving, it wraps each STARK receipt into a Groth16 SNARK. This final Groth16 proof is very short and fast to verify, which is essential to make verification on Bitcoin's limited scripting language practical. These types of SNARKs, particularly Groth16, require a trusted setup ceremony to ensure the integrity of the proof system.
Fairgate is hosting its second BitVMX-focused event in Buenos Aires on November 16, following the first session during LABITCONF weekend. This next meetup will explore how BitVMX powers advanced Bitcoin applications, with a technical panel and community networking for builders, researchers, and developers interested in Bitcoin-native computation.
Event: Nov 16 / Palermo, Buenos Aires
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BitVMX, Garbled Circuits and Fairgate's Evolving Ecosystem of Protocols
Join us in this focused-event to explore how engineering practical solutions with BitVMX is shaping the future of disputable computing on Bitcoin.
As DEVCONNECT gets underway, start the pre-week warmup with a thorough yet relaxed update on everything BitVMX.
Starknet published its latest blog post, “Bitcoin’s DeFi Domain,” outlining its transformation into a BTCFi hub and sustainable yield layer for Bitcoin. The network is integrating BTC staking, yield strategies, and cross-chain bridges while collaborating with Alpen Labs on the GLOCK trust-minimized BitVM bridge.
starknet.io/blog
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Starknet: Bitcoin’s DeFi Domain
Since the rise of Bitcoin L2s in 2023, most of BTCFi’s earning capacity came from token-incentivized liquidity programs. These programs offered parking liquidity in underutilized pools, which resulted in short shelf lives.
This model is unsustainable for two reasons. First, incentives are finite. Second, users are left constantly searching for the next opportunity, with no reliable place to deploy their BTC long-term.
This Saturday Nov 15th at the Cardano Summit, Futo will participate in the “Building on Cardano: Tools, DeFi & Interoperability.” panel, focusing on BitVMX and the development of CARDINAL bridge, which brings Bitcoin ordinals to the Cardano blockchain.
techsummit.lat/agenda
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Cardano Summit Buenos Aires 2025
The Cardano Summit Buenos Aires 2025 seeks to strengthen collaboration between technological innovation and sustainable development, with a focus on education, governance, Web3 infrastructure and real-world use cases on the Cardano network.
Rootstock announced the RSKj Reed 8.1.0 release, a Testnet-only upgrade introducing Parallel Transaction Execution for scalability and laying the groundwork for the upcoming Union Bridge built on BitVMX technology
rootstock.io/blog
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Reed 8.1.0: RSKj Client Release and Testnet-only Network Upgrade
A Testnet network upgrade is a set of changes to the protocol consensus rules, which are activated at a defined block number only on Rootstock Testnet. Testnet upgrades allow the Rootstock community to validate new protocol features under real-world conditions before Mainnet activation, providing an essential testing ground for scalability improvements, new functionalities, and any other type of sensible protocol changes.
Fairgate recapped its week in Buenos Aires, where the team presented BitVMX at LABITCONF 2025 and hosted a side event. CTO Sergio Lerner showcased how BitVMX combines primitives like garbled circuits, FLEX, and BATTLE to enable scalable, trust-minimized computation on Bitcoin..
fairgate.io/blog
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Fairgate in Buenos Aires Pt. 1: Unveiling BitVMX's Potential for Real-World Applications
As part of this year’s LABITCONF in Buenos Aires, Fairgate joined the global Bitcoin community for an inspiring few days of talks, discussions, and connections. On Saturday, November 8th, Sergio Lerner, Fairgate’s CTO, took the Tech Stage to present “BitVM and BitVMX: Computing on Bitcoin Made Easy.”
GOAT Network core contributor Kevin discussed the project’s roadmap, highlighting the upcoming BitVM2 mainnet, Ziren GPU Prover, and new BTCFi ecosystem fund.
goat.network/blog
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Interview with Kevin, Core Contributor of GOAT Network
“Do you believe Bitcoin can have its own ‘OP moment’ like Ethereum?”
Kevin smiled and replied, “We’re paving the way to that moment.”
As public companies and institutions begin adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets, its massive latent liquidity awaits activation. .
An article by The Token Dispatch explores Hemi, a new protocol that embeds a full Bitcoin node inside the Ethereum Virtual Machine, enabling smart contracts to read Bitcoin’s state directly without bridges or oracles.
goat.network/blog
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Hemi Stuck Bitcoin Inside Ethereum
Bitcoin is secure but limited. Ethereum is flexible but less secure. What if you just stuck one inside the other?
If smart contracts can directly read Bitcoin’s state without trusting anyone, you can build things that weren’t practical before. A lending protocol where collateral checks happen by querying Bitcoin’s UTXO set from inside Solidity.An exchange where the smart contract watches Bitcoin transactions in real time. No oracle, no bridge. The contract sees Bitcoin itself.
Thanks for following along with Computing on Bitcoin News!
See you next Friday with more breakthroughs, blueprints, and builders from the Bitcoin frontier.
—The Fairgate Team