Bitcoin & Beyond is an educational series by The Rollup team focusing on builders in the Bitcoin ecosystem. In this episode, the team discusses building Bitcoin’s first ZK rollup with Orkun from Citrea, aiming to enhance Bitcoin’s utility while preserving its security. Orkun explains that a rollup uses another blockchain for data availability, allowing for scalability improvements without compromising security. Citrea’s motivation for building a ZK rollup on Bitcoin is driven by Bitcoin’s security and censorship resistance, aiming to expand the possibilities of using Bitcoin beyond simple payments by utilizing its block space security.Citrea is overcoming Bitcoin’s limitations through modularity, allowing developers to customize their stack for various applications like payment rollups, gaming rollups, and EVM rollups. The use of Bitcoin as a data availability layer for rollups ensures high security, but may not be suitable for high-speed, low-cost applications. To address this challenge, Citrea has introduced Clementine, a BitVM-based two-way peg that optimistically verifies ZK proofs to move bitcoins in and out of the system efficiently and securely. The evolution of BTC bridges has seen a shift towards crypto-economic security bridges, which use staked assets to ensure security.Clementine optimistically verifies ZK proofs, reducing the need for frequent settlements and enhancing security by aggregating proofs from Bitcoin. This approach allows for efficient and scalable processes, ensuring the accuracy and security of the system. Citrea’s future plans include introducing volition, a hybrid model balancing on-chain security with off-chain cost efficiency, and emphasizing the importance of transaction fees for Bitcoin’s long-term security. By bridging Bitcoin’s resilience with the flexibility of rollups, Citrea aims to push the boundaries of what is possible with Bitcoin, enhancing the evolving state of Bitcoin scaling solutions. Follow The Rollup’s Bitcoin & Beyond series to stay updated on the latest developments in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
