At 11:22 pm UTC on July 24, BitcoinOS (BOS), a Bitcoin rollups protocol, effectively verified the first zero-knowledge (ZK) proof on the blockchain’s mainnet.
The accomplishment enables the Bitcoin mainnet to access new levels of functionality and scalability without necessitating additional modifications to the blockchain’s base layer.
During a written Q&A session with Cointelegraph, Edan Yago, co-founder of BOS, stated that the development “signifies a new era in which Bitcoin is no longer mere digital gold.”
“It is also an operating system and a platform on which the entire world of decentralized applications can be built. […] This marks a chapter where Ethereum, Solana and all of the other layer-1 projects are no longer safe from competition by Bitcoin.”
Verifying the ZK-proof of the mainnet
BitSNARK, BOS’s ZK Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge (zk-SNARK) verification software library, is the technology that powers the mainnet verification.
Cointelegraph received a press release from BitSNARK, which allows developers to establish “near-trustless bridges” to transfer Bitcoin BTC between the mainnet and layer-2 rollups.
Yago clarified the implications of implementing ZK-proofs on the mainnet, asserting that a single transaction could now represent “many hundreds and thousands of transactions.”
“A single Bitcoin transaction can now be used for transacting privately and for things like smart contracts.”
From Bitcoin blockchain to an operating system
Yago elucidates that ZK’s achievement in demonstrating verification on the Bitcoin mainnet starkly contrasts the organization’s objective: transform it into an operating system.
According to Yago, the Bitcoin mainnet could be utilized for “decentralized services and activities, such as DAOs, DeFi, and anything you can imagine” by transforming it into “more than a transaction system for payments.”
Yago previously stated that the sole method of upgrading Bitcoin was through soft forks and modifications to the consensus. However, this is no longer the case.
“It is now possible to introduce any kind of features that you want to Bitcoin, in a permissionless way, […] to turn what a lot of people thought was a disadvantage, the fact that it was ossifying and the fact that it was very difficult to change, into its main advantage.”
StarkWare verifies first ZK-proof on Bitcoin testnet
StarkWare announced on July 17 that it had effectively verified its ZK-proof on the Bitcoin testnet, Signet, marking a historic milestone.
Following three months of “OP_CAT” exploration by the company, the development enabled the company to establish its new STARK verifier on the network.
To enhance the scalability of Bitcoin and expand global payment opportunities on the blockchain, the verifier established the groundwork for the development of layer-2 solutions based on ZK.