TECHNICAL

Bitcoin Layer 2: Statechains

Bitcoin Layer 2: Statechains

Bitcoin Magazine Bitcoin Layer 2: Statechains Statechains are an original second layer protocol originally developed by Ruben Somsen in 2018, depending on the eltoo (or LN Symmetry) proposal. In 2021 a variation of the original proposal, Mercury, was built by CommerceBlock. In 2024, a further iteration of the original Mercury scheme was built, Mercury Layer.  […]

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The Bitcoin Mempool: Private Mempools

The Bitcoin Mempool: Private Mempools

Bitcoin Magazine The Bitcoin Mempool: Private Mempools In the last Mempool article, I went through the dynamics of transaction propagation when different nodes on the network are running different mempool relay policies. In this piece I’ll be looking at the dynamics of private mempools, and the implications that has for the utility of the public

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The Bitcoin Mempool: Relay Network Dynamics

The Bitcoin Mempool: Relay Network Dynamics

Bitcoin Magazine The Bitcoin Mempool: Relay Network Dynamics In the last Mempool article, I went over the different kinds of relay policy filters, why they exist, and the incentives that ultimately decide how effective each class of filter is at preventing the confirmation of different classes of transactions. In this piece I’ll be looking at

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How Zeus is Redefining Bitcoin with Cashu Ecash Integration

How Zeus is Redefining Bitcoin with Cashu Ecash Integration

Bitcoin Magazine How Zeus is Redefining Bitcoin with Cashu Ecash Integration The U.S.-based Bitcoin and Lightning mobile wallet Zeus recently announced an alpha-release integration of Cashu. The move marks the first integration of ecash into a popular Bitcoin wallet, breaking new ground for potential user adoption to Bitcoin. Cashu is a hot new implementation of

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OP_RETURN Limits: Bitcoin’s Battle Over Arbitrary Data

OP_RETURN Limits: Bitcoin’s Battle Over Arbitrary Data

Bitcoin Magazine OP_RETURN Limits: Bitcoin’s Battle Over Arbitrary Data An OP_RETURN debate flared up in the Bitcoin industry in recent weeks and has by now invaded most conversation spaces within the industry. The topic is rich and complex, and many people have strong opinions on the matter. OP_RETURN is an opcode in Bitcoin’s scripting language

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The Bitcoin Mempool: What Is It For?

The Bitcoin Mempool: What Is It For?

Bitcoin Magazine The Bitcoin Mempool: What Is It For? Everyone who has used bitcoin has made use of the mempool, or a mempool. So what is the mempool? Well technically, there is no such thing as “the” mempool. Every individual full Bitcoin node operates its own mempool, a cache of valid bitcoin transactions that have

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Bitcoin Core Developer Sjors Provoost: Bitcoin Core The Project

Bitcoin Core Developer Sjors Provoost: Bitcoin Core The Project

Bitcoin Magazine Bitcoin Core Developer Sjors Provoost: Bitcoin Core The Project While at the MIT Bitcoin Expo last month I was able to sit down with Bitcoin Core developer Sjors Provoost.  Sjors is a physicist turned Bitcoin developer, which believe it or not is actually a pretty common phenomenon. He began contributing to Bitcoin Core

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Bitcoin Covenants: OP_CAT (BIP 347)

Bitcoin Covenants: OP_CAT (BIP 347)

Bitcoin Magazine Bitcoin Covenants: OP_CAT (BIP 347) This is the fifth article in a series deep diving into individual covenant proposals that have reached a point of maturity meriting an in-depth breakdown. OP_CAT, put forward for reactivation in tapscript by Ethan Heilman and Armin Sabouri in BIP 347, is not a covenant. It was an

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Bitcoin Covenants: OP_VAULT (BIP 345)

Bitcoin Covenants: OP_VAULT (BIP 345)

Bitcoin Magazine Bitcoin Covenants: OP_VAULT (BIP 345) This is the fourth article in a series deep diving into individual covenant proposals that have reached a point of maturity meriting an in-depth breakdown. OP_VAULT, put forward by James O’Beirne in BIP 345 (with Greg Sanders added later as a co-author), is a covenant designed to implement

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