New research proposes off-chain computations on Bitcoin
A new research paper titled “BitVM: Compute Anything on Bitcoin” proposes a novel method for executing complex computations and smart contracts on the Bitcoin network. The paper — published on Oct. 9 — suggests that users verify Bitcoin (BTC) computations without executing them on -chain . This is done using a prover-verifier model, where the prover claims the result of a calculation, and the verifier can check if the claim is valid. The prover first compiles the program into a large binary circuit of logic gates to achieve this. They commit to this circuit bit-by-bit using cryptographic commitments in a Taproot address. The verifier can then query the prover to reveal certain parts of the circuit and check if they are consistent. The paper shows that by using cleverly constructed “challenge-response” transactions signed by both parties, the verifier can detect any false claims by the prover through a series of binary searches. This allows arbitrary compu...