It is likely that Bitcoin developers that seek to expand the abilities of decentralized finance (DEFI) of the block chain have zero knowledge tests (ZK), functionality that is currently not available and that require a soft bifurcation so -called or a new version of the software, to present them.
That is a problem, according to Edan Yago, a Bitcoin veteran of more than a decade and central taxpayer to the Smart Contract Bitcoin operating system (BOS).
“Bifurcar a block chain, especially one with a value of $ 2 billion, is like an open heart surgery,” Yago told Coindesk in an interview “Hard forks are obviously much more problematic, but I think that introducing any type of bifurcation is tense.”
A bifurcation is a change in the code of a block chain that requires a divergence at a certain point on a separate route. The forks can be “soft”, which means that the oldest versions can still interact with the new, or “hard”, which makes the oldest versions incompatible and require that all users update their software.
ZK tests are a cryptographic method to prove the validity of the statements while privacy is maintained by not revealing any information about it. The functionality is not available in the Bitcoin software, but it could be done through proposed implementations such as OP_CAT and OP_CTV. Yago said developers should be able to find ways to enable them in Bitcoin without any bifurcation.
“The test load is in developers to demonstrate that there is no other way to achieve this through smart engineering,” he said.
This is what Bos expects to achieve through Bitsnark, a Bitcoin roll protocol that is part of the computing paradigms family that is developing to climb the original block chain. These arose after the introduction of Bitvm by Robin Linus in October 2023, which established a framework on how smart contracts similar to Ethereum could be enabled in Bitcoin.
Bitcoinos is now of open origin, what Yago describes as a “completely ready for production” Bitsnark protocol, which means that developers now have access to ZK verification in Bitcoin and can connect it to other blockchains such as Ethereum, Solana and Cardano.
Bitsnark allows developers to take large and complex programs and test the results of the calculations in just 300 bytes that can be verified in Bitcoin standard transactions. That could pave the way for BTCFI, a term used for Defi in Bitcoin, through the enabling of cross chain bridges, decentralized exchanges and stable backed by Bitcoin (BTC).
While there are numerous projects that seek to introduce decentralized finances in Bitcoin, they trust op_cat or op_CTV codes, which require bifurcation in blockchain software. Yago wants to reach the same destination through a different route.
