Bitcoin’s (BTC) proof-of-work consensus mechanism could possibly be a helpful technique of securing numerous proof-of-stake (PoS) good contract blockchain protocols due to the efforts of a Stanford College professor.
David Tse and his analysis workforce are utilizing main cryptocurrencies to supply extra safety to PoS networks. The Tse-owned Babylon blockchain goals to make use of bitcoin to strengthen community safety and encourage BTC holders to take part in what is outwardly a brand new method that permits bitcoin to be stacked on proof-of-stake chains.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, Tse demonstrated how Babylon makes use of the Bitcoin scripting language to attach a PoS-based slashing mechanism to the Bitcoin community. This enables the creation of good contracts which might be capable of set particular spending situations:
“Though the Bitcoin scripting language is proscribed in its capability to precise advanced spending eventualities, now we have used superior cryptography to translate the PoS chain’s slashing phrases into spendable transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain.”
Tse mentioned Babylon’s BTC staking protocol permits BTC for use to safe its community with out altering or forking the Bitcoin protocol. This additionally provides BTC holders the flexibility to earn rewards for contributing to the safety of the PoS community by staking their BTC.
“Our methodology basically transforms the slashing state of the proof-of-stake chain right into a spendable bitcoin transaction. BTC thus stacked doesn’t must be linked to the PoS chain.”
The Stanford professor additionally added that the simplicity of the method additionally maximizes blockchain’s safety by avoiding potential vulnerabilities related to cross-chain bridges. As Cointelegraph beforehand explored, cross-chain hacks and exploits are rampant, resulting in greater than $2 billion in extortion previously yr.
Bitcoin is unsurpassed as the biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and continues to function on the unique specs laid down by its eponymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
Nonetheless, the ecosystem has seen renewed curiosity and progress with the launch of Bitcoin Ordinals, which permit customers to jot down nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on particular person satoshis, the smallest denomination of a unit of BTC.
Equally, Professor Tse believes that protocols like Babylon lengthen Bitcoin’s utility past being a easy retailer of worth or medium of change by sharing it with different chains and functions:
“We goal to scale Bitcoin’s safety in an analogous approach to Ethereum’s scaling efforts, successfully sharing Bitcoin’s robust safety with the remainder of the decentralized world.”
Progressive approaches to blockchain consensus proceed to be developed by the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Proof-of-stake chains have benefited and are quickly adopting new approaches reminiscent of zero-knowledge proof (zk-proof). The likes of Starkware co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson, who pioneered the expertise, additionally consider that zk-proofs could possibly be very useful to the proof-of-work-based Bitcoin blockchain.
Journal: This is how Ethereum’s ZK-rollups can turn into interoperable
