Newsletters » Weekly #07

2024 - Week 40

Happy Friday everyone! This has been a very special week indeed for Fairgate, as we've achieved relevant milestones in POW Frankfurt with BitVMX and the unveiling of the Union Bridge.
We invite you to find out more in our article selection below, including the best of what happened in ZK proofs, disputable computing and web3 throughout the week.

01
Union Bridge is here: a permissionless bridge powered by BitVMX

Sergio Lerner presented the Union Bridge in Proof-Of-Work Summit Frankfurt. In his presentation, Sergio showcases the evolution of bridges for Bitcoin, focusing on the new Union Bridge developed by Rootstock Labs. The talk highlights advancements in trust-minimized and permissionless systems using the BitVMX framework, explaining the BitVMX framework capabilities to execute efficient secure computations on Bitcoin.

First Release of BitVMX Implementation: Union Bridge by Rootstock

@BitVMX - Bitcoin Computation
Sergio Demian Lerner Keynote at POW Summit 2024 - Frankfurt. The BitVMX protocol developed by Roostock and Fairgate Labs, was published extending and optimizing the initial design of BitVM. BitVMX is general-purpose verification system based on the disputable computing paradigm applied to a RISC-V virtual processor. The Union bridge is the first capital-efficient permissionless security-bonded bridge that can extend to hundreds of participants resting on a single honest verifier.

02
Strata: bringing ZK technology to Bitcoin

Alpen Labs presents Strata, their vision for building endgame money with Zero Knowledge and Bitcoin.

stratabtc.org/blog
🔗 Endgame money - Strata’s vision: endgame money, made in bitcoin
Bitcoin wasn’t just a technological innovation—it was a monetary uprising. It emerged as a bold response to a financial system where centralized powers held too much control over people’s money. Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision was revolutionary: money with no masters, belonging to the people—transparent, decentralized, and immune to manipulation.

03
The current and future role of Layers on the Bitcoin ecosystem

A new paper surveying Layer 1 and Layer 2 technologies on Bitcoin ecosystem. The authors discuss how Layer 1 serves as the base protocol for Bitcoin, ensuring security and decentralization, while Layer 2 solutions aim to address Bitcoin’s scalability issues by enabling faster, more efficient transactions. The study highlights various approaches, including payment channels, rollups, and sidechains, and provides an overview of future development trends in Bitcoin’s infrastructure.

arxiv.org
🔗 Programming on Bitcoin: A Survey of Layer 1 and Layer 2 Technologies in Bitcoin Ecosystem
The Taproot upgrade in 2021 ushered in the Schnorr signature algorithm and the P2TR transaction type to Bitcoin, thereby notably improves Bitcoin’s privacy and programming capability. This upgrade catalyzes the emergence of new protocols such as Ordinals, Atomicals, and BitVM, which not only enhances Bitcoin’s programming capability but also enriches the Bitcoin ecosystem

04
Citrea: Scaling Bitcoin for mass adoption

Citrea's keynote 'Towards Hyperbitcoinization' from Proof-Of-Work Summit Frankfurt. The keynote put emphasis the need for innovation, particularly with non-custodial solutions, to make Bitcoin more functional as a global medium of exchange. The discussion also touches on the potential of Bitcoin-backed stablecoins and the role of Citrea as a layer to enhance Bitcoin's ecosystem without changing its core.

POW SUMMIT DAY 1 Stage 1

@ETCCooperative

05
LayerZero is now Live on BitLayer

LayerZero has been launched on BitLayer, enhancing cross-chain communication and enabling secure, decentralized data and asset transfers across multiple blockchains. As an interoperability protocol, LayerZero supports the development of decentralized applications (dApps) that can interact seamlessly across various blockchain ecosystems without intermediaries.

medium.com
🔗 LayerZero. Live on Bitlayer.
Burgeoning blockchain ecosystems require the launch of apps, assets, and infrastructure to spur growth, liquidity, and interoperability. And it’s with that in mind that we’re thrilled to announce the launch of LayerZero going live on Bitlayer, unlocking seamless interoperability and communication with the world’s leading blockchains and decentralized applications.

That was it for this edition! As you can see, the ecosystem is on an exciting momentum as the community keeps on building and new initiatives are being introduced at an unstoppable pace.
Thanks for reading and sharing!
See you again next week!

Fairgate Team