The Bitcoin technology and protocol stack
Bitcoin is is a new disruptive open-source monetary technology and protocol. The Bitcoin technology and protocol stack is quite vast, under development and evolving.
Bitcoin has more than 60+ "innovations", including upgrades, layer 2s/3s, smart contracts, dApps, apps, privacy tools, and much more.
Bitcoin sidechain technology
Sidechains A sidechain is a blockchain that runs parallel to the Bitcoin mainchain to provide functionalities & scalability Original whitepaper by Blockstream: https://blockstream.com/sidechains.pdf
Bitcoin PoS sidechains
Proof of Stake Sidechains PoS is criticized by Bitcoiners for having several issues that make it far inferior to PoW. But many of those issues are resolved if the PoS system is reliant on a PoW system like Bitcoin for its security. For more information: Proof of Stake Bitcoin Sidechains.
Elements, liquid and Bitcoin federated sidechains
Liquid is a federated sidechain for traders & exchanges that enables faster, more confidential #BTC and #USDT transactions, and the issuance of digital assets. Website: https://liquid.net . How it works: https://docs.blockstream.com/liquid/technical_overview.html
Elements is the name of the blockchain platform used by Liquid. It's built upon and extending Bitcoin’s codebase Website: https://elementsproject.org Features: - Confidential transactions - Issued assets - Schnorr signatures.
Simplicity Simplicity is a blockchain programming language designed as an alternative to the Bitcoin script for Elements/Liquid. The language and implementation are under development.
Blockstream satellites
Blockstream satellites The Blockstream satellites broadcast the Bitcoin blockchain around the world 24/7 for free, enabling nodes to be run even in places without the Internet.
Bitcoin MainStay
Bitcoin MainStay is another protocol that allows you to run sidechains that exploit the security and immutability of a proof-of-work public blockchain like Bitcoin. Website: https://commerceblock.com/mainstay/ Learn: https://commerceblock.readthedocs.io/en/latest/mainstay-background/index.html
Bitcoin RSK
Rootstock is a merge mined sidechain with a federated 2 way peg. Think of it as a clone of Ethereum that uses bitcoin (RBTC) as its currency. I won't touch RIF, although that's built top of RSK, and they're often associated with each other. Website: https://www.rsk.co/rsk-blockchain/
Bitcoin Sovryn
Sovryn is a non-custodial and permissionless, smart contract based decentralized app (dApp) created on RSK for lending, borrowing, and margin trading bitcoin.
BTCPayServer
This is an open-source, self-hosted payment processor for Bitcoin (with lightning) and other cryptocurrencies. Website etc can take payments with complete self-sovereignty.
Bitcoin Money on Chain
Money on Chain offers a fully bitcoin collateralized stablecoin (DoC), a token that enables hodlers to earn more sats on bitcoin (BPro), a 2x leverage token BTC2x, and a governance token (MoC). Website: https://moneyonchain.com Wiki: https://wiki.moneyonchain.com
Bitcoin Drivechains
Drivechain is a proposal for enabling the original vision of sidechains with trustless 2-way pegs. Drivechains make all altcoins obsolete in theory. Website https://drivechain.info
Bitcoin Hivemind
Hivemind is a Peer-to-Peer Oracle Protocol that absorbs accurate data into a blockchain so that Bitcoin users can speculate in on-chain Prediction Markets. Could be implemented as an alt coin, but is being designed as a sidechain https://bitcoinhivemind.com
Bitcoin Thunder
Thunder is a big block clone of Bitcoin, also proposed by Paul as a sidechain to provide scalability in exchange for less decentralization. Makes big blockers happy without fucking up the mainchain or forking away https://truthcoin.info/blog/thunder
Bitcoin Softchains
Softchains A decentralized two-way peg sidechain design, where each new chain is activated through a soft fork, but Bitcoin nodes only validate the disputed blocks. For more information: http://gist.github.com/RubenSomsen/7ecf7f13dc2496aa7eed8815a02f13d1…
Bitcoin Spacechains
Spacechains One way pagged trustless sidechain design that doesn't require forks in the Bitcoin mainchain Read: https://medium.com/@RubenSomsen/21-million-bitcoins-to-rule-all-sidechains-the-perpetual-one-way-peg-96cb2f8ac302…
Bitcoin Statechains
You lock up money between a "statechain entity" and an user in a 2-of-2 multisig. The user transfers the money (the entire UTXO) by simply handing over their private key to the intended recipient. Read: https://medium.com/@RubenSomsen/statechains-non-custodial-off-chain-bitcoin-transfer-1ae4845a4a39…
Mercury is an implementation of statechains. Note that statechain implementations like Mercury are non custodial but *not* trustless. Website: https://mercurywallet.com
Bitcoin Taproot
Taproot Taproot would expand on Bitcoin’s smart contract flexibility, while offering more privacy in doing so. Even the most complex smart contracts would typically look indistinguishable from regular transactions. Goes live in a few days. Read for more information: Taproot Is Coming: What It Is, and How It Will Benefit Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Discreet Log Contracts
Discreet Log Contracts DLCs are invisible smart contracts on the Bitcoin blockchain that look like ordinary multi signature outputs. Website: https://dci.mit.edu/smart-contracts Read: https://medium.com/@gertjaap/discreet-log-contracts-invisible-smart-contracts-on-the-bitcoin-blockchain-cc8afbdbf0db…
Bitcoin RGB Smart Contracts
RGB smart contracts RGB is a suite of protocols that use a completely different paradigm for scalable & confidential smart contracts on top of Bitcoin *and* lightning Website: https://rgb-org.github.io
Bitcoin Sapio
Bitcoin Sapio is an in-development programming language that empowers Bitcoin developers to craft smart contracts in a more intuitive, safe, and composable way, compared to Bitcoin's native "Script". Website: https://github.com/sapio-lang/sapio… Learn Sapio: https://learn.sapio-lang.org/ch00-00-introduction.html
Bitcoin Covenants
Covenants aka spending constraints are hypothetical bitcoin scripts that, when attached to UTXOs, would constrain the way these can be spent, for example restricting the addresses where such coins can be sent. Learn more: https://bitcoincovenants.com
Bitcoin OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY
OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY It's an opcode based covenant, that has several potential use cases, including in drivechains. Website: https://utxos.org Use cases: https://utxos.org/uses/
Bitcoin Revault
Revault A free, open source custody solution for institutions holding bitcoin. Website: https://revault.dev
Bitcoin MiniMint
MiniMint "Bitcoin banks". Aims to replace Bitcoin's custodial solutions controlled by single parties with federated solutions controlled by multiple parties. Github: https://github.com/fedimint/minimint…
Bitcoin Fabric
Bitcoin Fabric is a new peer-to-peer computation protocol that enables a new model for a distributed web: data in exchange for value. Website: https://fabric.pub Whitepaper: https://github.com/FabricLabs/whitepaper/blob/master/whitepaper.md…
Bitcoin ION
ION Decentralized Identifier ION is an open, public, permissionless layer 2 decentralized identifier network that runs atop the Bitcoin blockchain. Highly scalable unlike anything "Web 3.0" on Ethereum. Website: https://identity.foundation/ion/
Bitcoin Bisq
Bisq Bisq is a peer-to-peer network made of open-source software nodes to buy and sell bitcoin for fiat (or other cryptocurrencies) privately and securely. Website: https://bisq.network Wiki: https://bisq.wiki
Bitcoin Erlay
Erlay It's a new Bitcoin transaction relay protocol that helps reduce bandwidth requirements of running a full node. Watch: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Gq6vRnJnbBM…
Bitcoin uTreeXO
uTreeXO uTreeXO reduces the amount of data sent from node to node through the use of cryptographic proofs, you could, in theory, run a full node on a smartphone, with 500 MB of RAM using uTreeXO.
Bitcoin FIBRE
The Fast Internet Bitcoin Relay Engine (FIBRE) FIBRE is a protocol and implementation designed to relay blocks within a network of nodes with almost no delay beyond the speed of light through fiber. https://bitcoinfibre.org
Bitcoin Stratum
Stratum V2 is a protocol for pooled mining. It focuses on making data transfers more efficient, reducing physical infrastructure requirements for mining operations, and increasing security.
Bitcoin PowSwap
POWSWAP allows miners to insure against unforeseen changes in difficulty, HODLers to insure their Bitcoin against decreases in difficulty & earn interest on long term holdings, & market makers to earn profit by providing liquidity. Website: https://powswap.com
Bitcoin Data anchoring
Data anchoring Bitcoin's blockchain can be used for more than just transferring BTC. It can also be used to create an immutable timestamped record of small amounts of data, which enables other protocols to use its security properties.
Here are some data anchoring platforms/services: Block Co (blockchain certificates) https://block.co Blockcerts (blockchain credentials) https://blockcerts.org Keybase (secure filesystem) https://book.keybase.io/docs/files
Bitcoin CoinJoin
CoinJoin is a trustless method for combining multiple Bitcoin payments from multiple parties into a single transaction to improve privacy on the base layer Read: https://blog.wasabiwallet.io/what-is-a-coinjoin/… Wasabi Wallet with CoinJoin: https://docs.wasabiwallet.io
PayJoin (P2EP) It is a special type of CoinJoin done between two parties that makes it hard to determine for external observers who paid how much to whom. Read (wiki): https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/PayJoin
Bitcoin CoinSwap
CoinSwap Using smart contracts on the blockchain, coins are (atomic) swapped between users. For example: Alice's Address ---> 2of2 multisig escrow address 1 ---> Bob's Address Bob's Address ---> 2of2 multisig escrow address 2 ---> Alice's Address https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/CoinSwap
Bitcoin Dandelion++
The Dandelion++ is a network layer anonymity solution that helps improve Bitcoin’s P2P network privacy. It uses privacy techniques to hide the origin (IP address) of on-chain transactions.
Bitcoin Lightning
LNP/BP Standards Association It is an organization that oversees the development of LNP/BP specifications that cover standards & best practices for Layer 2s & above in cases when they do not require soft/hard-forks on the base layer (cont.).
Products being developed by the Association: https://lnp-bp.org/products
Lighting hosted channels Hosted channels (HC) is an extension to LN protocol which allows two LN nodes to establish a new type of channel between them which is intentionally not backed on chain.
Bitcoin Stacks
Stacks is an open-source network of decentralized apps and smart contracts built on Bitcoin. Stacks unleashes Bitcoin’s full potential as a programmable base layer. For more information: https://www.stacks.co/
Bitcoin Synomym
Synonym has designed a strategy and model for facilitating and accelerating a Bitcoin future by researching, developing, and bootstrapping a full ecosystem of the software products and protocols necessary to operate in a post-hyperbitcoinization environment. Synomym is building out a lightweight, scalable, and decentralized "web of trust" protocol, Slashtags, which brings new utility and self-sovereign experiences to Bitcoin and the Lightning Network.
For more information: https://synonym.to
Bitcoin BOLT12
BOLT12 is a new set of specifications for the lightning network (wallets and nodes). It allows for things like static, re-usable invoices and recurring payments over lightning. Podcast: https://youtube.com/watch?v=LSP0p_IPUIM…
Bitcoin Channel factories
Channel factories are a proposed intermediate layer between Bitcoin and lightning that are designed to reduce the number of on-chain transactions required for opening and closing LN channels.
LNURL-auth
LNURL-auth is a protocol for authenticating users using digital signatures from public-private key pairs held in their lightning wallet. Demo: https://lightninglogin.live Learn: https://lightninglogin.live/learn
LNURL Point of Sale DIY lightning point of sale payments processor. Uses a online solution as its backbone, but the POS itself is completely offline Read: https://github.com/arcbtc/LNURLPoS
Bitcoin ImperviousAI
It is a programmatic layer on top of lightning making it the application layer (layer 3) of Bitcoin. Website: https://impervious.ai Impervious browser: https://twitter.com/ImperviousAi/status/1450966667123519488…
Lapps (Lightning Apps)
- Y'alls – read and write articles, with lightning micropayments http://yalls.org
- Sphinx Chat – chat, social media app on top of lightning https://sphinx.chat
- LNCast – lightning network podcasts http://lncast.com • Stacker News – forum that uses lightning sats for upvotes & karma https://stacker.news
- Breez Wallet – lightning wallet with built in podcast player https://medium.com/breez-technology/podcasts-on-breez-streaming-sats-for-streaming-ideas-d9361ae8a627…
- Joule – lightning wallet as browser add-on https://lightningjoule.com •
- LNPay – lightning app (lapp) ecosystem for integrating into services https://lnpay.co
- HodlHodl – peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange with lightning integration https://hodlhodl.com
- Zebedee – lightning wallet for gamers https://zebedee.io
- Breez Wallet – lightning wallet with built in podcast player https://medium.com/breez-technology/podcasts-on-breez-streaming-sats-for-streaming-ideas-d9361ae8a627…
- Muun Wallet - self-custodial wallet for bitcoin and lightning.