Drivechain Could Ossify Bitcoin's Blockchain For Good

This is an sentiment editorial by Nikita Chashchinskii, a bundle developer moving connected BIP300 sidechains.

Today, Bitcoin faces a challenge. There are 2 contradicting requirements indispensable for success, and if we privation to win, we person to find a mode to fulfill both. First determination is the request for information — it is paramount erstwhile billions of dollars are astatine stake. In the satellite of information professional paranoia and conservatism are a necessity. Any azygous alteration introduced into Bitcoin bundle is simply a imaginable information vulnerability. Ideally we would frost Bitcoin’s codebase and past ne'er present immoderate changes that don’t hole information vulnerabilities.

This archetypal request is already connected its mode to being satisfied with a creeping ossification, which is not a conscious strategy, but an accidental governmental world established arsenic a effect of historical events and technological limitations. Every azygous alteration that touches statement indispensable spell done a long, extended and rigorous process of deliberation. You tin spot this with the Taproot brushed fork, which took 46 months from proposal successful January 2018 to activation successful November 2021, and successful the much caller OP_CTV activation controversy. It whitethorn beryllium by accident, but we are connected our mode to satisfying the archetypal requirement.

There is simply a sedate outgo to this unconscious “strategy” though. In the existing accidental ossification authorities we are taxable to an extreme, and possibly adjacent justified, level of hazard aversion, due to the fact that if a determination is reached and a hazard is taken, each azygous Bitcoin idiosyncratic indispensable carnivore that risk. Technological improvements either instrumentality years to instrumentality oregon are rejected outright. In specified a authorities we volition ne'er spot immoderate technological advancements.

In the existent concern Bitcoin volition ne'er spot zero-knowledge cryptography oregon ringing signatures implemented. And truthful Bitcoin volition ne'er person beardown privacy. Only Bitcoin’s competition volition person beardown privacy.

For scaling we volition beryllium stuck with the Lightning Network and with custodial solutions. Lightning is large arsenic acold arsenic it goes, but successful presumption of scaling it has limitations. Its capableness to onboard caller users is limited, and it has yet unsolved UX challenges. Besides, immoderate proposals that marque Lightning meaningfully amended specified arsenic SIGHASH_ANYPREVOUT volition either instrumentality aggregate years to activate oregon volition ne'er beryllium activated.

This is each to accidental thing of much experimental ideas and technologies specified arsenic Blockstream’s simplicity proposal. It enables astute contracts connected Bitcoin with a amended plan than existing astute declaration implementations connected altcoins. Given the complexity of this proposal, it is precise improbable to ever spot the airy of time nether the existing process. Only Bitcoin’s largest competitor volition person astute contracts.

And that is not all. Besides that, determination are the already existing technological improvements successful presumption of privacy, scaling and astute contracts, which Bitcoin won’t spot implemented. We volition voluntarily or, worse, accidentally relinquish the powerfulness of each aboriginal technological innovation to our competition. Our contention is not constrained by ossification astatine all.

Significant improvements are already near connected the table. Imagine however acold down we volition beryllium wrong a decennary oregon 2 of advancement successful cryptography and machine science, if the concern doesn’t change.

In bid to win, Bitcoin requires a mechanics for alteration and adaptation to execute triumph successful the competitory situation it is in. It doesn’t substance however large Bitcoin is successful its existent state. Without specified a mechanics Bitcoin’s imaginable volition enactment fixed, and its competitors’ and adversaries’ potentials volition grow. In this concern nary substance however acold ahead you are, and nary substance however acold behind your competitors and adversaries, yet they volition catch up. Failure to accommodate successful a competitory situation usually doesn’t enactment out.

Unless astatine immoderate constituent determination is simply a modulation from the contented and isolation of the Edo period to unfastened mindedness and modernization of the Meiji period, the British volition amusement up with ironclads, Gatling guns and rifles, and you would beryllium stuck with samurai swords and horses.

These are the 2 “irreconcilable” requirements we person — alteration and security. The lone bully mode to reconcile them, that I americium alert of, is to abstracted Bitcoin into 2 isolated layers. Layer 1 needs to beryllium a wholly ossified basal layer, ne'er making immoderate non-security improving changes (in each likelihood that would beryllium the existing Bitcoin Core). Layer 2 needs to beryllium a sidechain furniture that is escaped to instrumentality risks and to instrumentality arbitrary features.

There indispensable beryllium a unafraid two-way peg that lets anyone transportation funds betwixt the basal furniture and immoderate sidechain connected Layer 2 astatine a 1:1 speech rate. This two-way peg mechanics and possibly a blind merged mining statement should beryllium the lone things that link Layer 1 and Layer 2.

With this mechanism, the determination of however overmuch technological hazard to instrumentality connected would beryllium made individually and unilaterally by each azygous user. Any idiosyncratic could determination funds into a peculiar sidechain, and voluntarily judge its trade-offs and risks, oregon determination them backmost to the ossified information of the basal furniture astatine immoderate time.

This idiosyncratic taking oregon not taking of risks and trade-offs, which lone affects the radical who partake successful it, would regenerate the existing process of corporate hazard taking done deliberation by the full assemblage and all-or-nothing instauration of changes that impact each azygous Bitcoin user.

There already exists a custodial implementation of this thought — the Liquid Network. But, due to the fact that it is custodial, it is flawed. In bid to onslaught it you request to compromise 5 custodians distributed astir the satellite and not conscionable one, which is simply a batch amended than thing similar Coinbase, but it is custodial nonetheless.

Liquid’s occurrence has been beauteous limited. As of September 14, 2022 according to liquid.net determination are 3,560 BTC pegged into the network. That is astir $71 cardinal oregon 0.019% of the existent circulating BTC proviso of somewhat much than 19 cardinal coins. It is amended than nothing, but an implementation that relies connected an 11-of-15 multisig controlled by 15 functionary incorporated companies astir the satellite requires an unacceptable level of spot for a supposedly trustless distributed cryptocurrency, which is reflected successful peoples’ reluctance to really usage it — hence determination is lone ~$71 cardinal successful it.

There is simply a non-custodial implementation of the nonstop aforesaid thought projected successful BIP300 and BIP301 — Drivechain. It requires a softfork to beryllium activated, but it is distributed and trustless. The two-way peg is secured by paying each sidechain transaction fees to miners to execute a fixed and precise elemental acceptable of functions. You tin get the afloat statement of the mechanics successful the BIPs.

This is simply a important information betterment implicit Liquid. In bid to onslaught Liquid you lone person to compromise 5 incorporated functionaries, which is simply a woefully insufficient information statement fixed the kinds of adversaries Bitcoin mightiness look if it continues to grow. In bid to onslaught Drivechain you person to execute a 51% onslaught sustained implicit 3 months, portion making it painfully evident to each azygous subordinate of the web that you are performing an onslaught and giving said participants plentifulness of clip to respond.

With Drivechain we person a mode to reconcile our 2 “irreconcilable” requirements for alteration and for security. We tin ossify Bitcoin much wholly than with the existing “accidental governmental reality” benignant of ossification, we tin sphere Bitcoin’s trustless and distributed nature, and astatine the nonstop aforesaid time, we tin guarantee that, successful the future, we would beryllium the “British” with metaphorical ironclads, Gatling guns and rifles, and our competitors and adversaries would beryllium the ones stuck with metaphorical samurai swords and horses.

This is simply a impermanent station by Nikita Chashchinskii. Opinions expressed are wholly their ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of BTC Inc oregon Bitcoin Magazine.