The Bitcoin & Beyond series by The Rollup team focuses on educating builders in the Bitcoin ecosystem about innovative scaling projects. In a recent episode, Citrea discussed building Bitcoin’s first ZK rollup to enhance Bitcoin’s utility while maintaining its security. The motivation behind Citrea’s endeavor is Bitcoin’s unparalleled security and censorship resistance, despite limitations in block size and script capabilities. By addressing these limitations through modularity, Citrea aims to customize the stack for various applications like payment rollups and gaming rollups. Security is paramount for Bitcoin, and Citrea’s innovation involves using Bitcoin as a data availability layer for rollups.
To facilitate the movement of bitcoins in and out of the system, Citrea has developed Clementine, a BitVM-based two-way peg optimistically verifying ZK proofs. This mechanism aggregates proofs from Bitcoin, enabling efficient and secure processes while reducing the need for frequent settlements. The evolution of BTC bridges has shifted from custodial to modern crypto-economic security bridges, enhancing security and reducing trust requirements. Clementine employs an optimistic approach to verify ZK proofs, introducing a trust-minimized assumption where only one participant needs to be honest to ensure security.
Citrea’s future plans include introducing volition, a hybrid model balancing on-chain security with off-chain cost efficiency, allowing applications to choose their data storage method based on specific needs. Transaction fees play a crucial role in Bitcoin’s long-term security, with Citrea’s utilization of Bitcoin as a data availability layer contributing to maintaining miner incentives and network security. By bridging Bitcoin’s resilience with the flexibility of rollups, Citrea aims to push the boundaries of possibilities with Bitcoin, offering innovative solutions for various applications. To learn more about Citrea’s work and the evolving state of Bitcoin scaling solutions, follow The Rollup’s Bitcoin & Beyond series.
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