In a London office on Thursday, BitcoinOS developers completed the final code commit that would open-source BitSNARK, a specialized protocol enabling zero-knowledge verification on Bitcoin.
The move to open-source BitSNARK “unlocks programmability on Bitcoin” and aims to help developers “build and experiment in ways that were previously impossible,” Edan Yago, CEO and co-founder of BitcoinOS, told Decrypt.
The release follows BitcoinOS's July 2024 demo, which verified the first zero-knowledge proof on Bitcoin's mainnet at Block 853626.
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For years, Bitcoin developers faced a seemingly intractable trilemma: improve scale, add computational expressivity, or preserve decentralization—pick two at most.
BitcoinOS addresses this without requiring modifications to Bitcoin's core protocol. This aspect could transform how developers build for the world's largest crypto network through languages they’re already familiar with such as Rust and Solidity.
These efforts to make the protocol open source are aimed at improving how SNARKs (Succinct Non-interactive Argument of Knowledge) are used on Bitcoin.
SNARKs are cryptographic proofs that let someone prove they know something or did something correctly without revealing any other details, using a simple verification scheme that anyone can easily check.
This method has been around for some time, but BitSNARK builds on that with a supposedly streamlined approach.
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Small steps, big ideas
Unlike more complex implementations, BitSNARK optimizes for SNARK verification, requiring only three instructions instead of dozens and wrapping these complex computations into proofs sized at just about 350 bytes.
This efficiency makes the once-theoretical concept of running zero-knowledge proofs on Bitcoin's limited scripting environment “small enough” to be practical for real-world applications, Yago claimed.
It does that by using a “prover-verifier” model where participants prepare and sign a series of Bitcoin transactions that enable proof verification.
The protocol uses binary search algorithms to locate contentious operations and try to resolve disputes, secured by economic incentives that it claims make dishonesty on the system prohibitively expensive for both parties.
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Bringing applications to Bitcoin
The implications of BitSNARK going open-source extend beyond technical circles.
Financial applications previously exclusive to programmable blockchains like Ethereum now become possible on Bitcoin: trustless bridges for cross-chain assets, decentralized exchanges, and even Bitcoin-backed stablecoins.
However, not everyone in the Bitcoin community embraces these developments.
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Concerns about increased complexity and potential security risks with zero-knowledge have emerged from critics who see more value in simplicity and self-custody over prospects of expanded functionality.
For the repository, Yago confirmed with Decrypt that the core infrastructure would be fully open source, while some proprietary elements would remain limited to apps BitcoinOS has already built.
Asked about security, Yago told Decrypt that BitcoinOS sees BitSNARK as a way to build out a “universal security layer for the entire internet.”
If it succeeds, BitcoinOS’s initiatives with BitSNARKs could help Bitcoin find and “reshape the way we can all use Bitcoin” and ensure that the alpha crypto’s “original promise” is “realized for everyone,” Yago said in a statement.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
