How We Did It: The First ZK Proof on Bitcoin - Edan Yago & Gadi Guy at Bitcoin Nashville #Bitcoin

Summary

At the Nashville Bitcoin conference, Bitcoin OS made a groundbreaking announcement by introducing zero-knowledge proofs to Bitcoin for the first time, enabling scalability to thousands of transactions per second, native private transactions, and sophisticated smart contracts without a soft fork. Guy, the CTO of Bitcoin OS, explained the interactive protocol and large Taproot tree used to achieve this, showcasing a real-world application with a zk-SNARK proof verified on the Bitcoin blockchain. This innovation opens doors for trustless layer 2 rollups and applications like decentralized exchanges and stablecoins, revolutionizing Bitcoin's capabilities to compete with Ethereum and other blockchains.

Takeaways

• 🎤 The conference is a significant event where major milestones in Bitcoin are announced, attracting a large crowd.
• 📣 High-profile figures like Trump and Elon Musk are expected to make announcements, adding to the conference's importance.
• 🔒 Bitcoin OS introduced zero-knowledge proofs for the first time in Bitcoin transactions, marking a technological breakthrough.
• 🚀 This innovation allows Bitcoin to scale to thousands of transactions per second without the need for the Lightning Network.
• 🔒 The introduction of zero-knowledge proofs enables native private transactions in the Bitcoin network.
• 🤖 Bitcoin can now support sophisticated smart contracts, broadening its capabilities.
• 🔄 The technology allows for trustless layer two rollups, enhancing Bitcoin's functionality to match other blockchain platforms like Ethereum and Solana.
• 🛠️ Guy, the CTO of Bitcoin OS, explained the technical process of integrating zero-knowledge proofs without a soft fork or new bip codes.
• 🌳 The team built a large Taproot tree and a new virtual machine optimized for elliptic curve cryptography to achieve the integration.
• 🔗 They also represented Merkel proofs to keep transaction sizes manageable, ensuring quick mining.
• 📈 The demonstration of the ZK proof verification involved an interactive protocol between a prover and verifier, with a costlier process for the dishonest party.
• 🔗 The final transaction was successful, and the team provided code on GitHub for the community to verify the proof's authenticity.
• 🔍 Future steps include turning the two-party protocol into a multi-party one for real-world security and building applications like trustless bridges and ZK rollups.

Q & A

What is the significance of the conference mentioned in the script?

The conference is significant because it is a place where major milestones in Bitcoin are announced, attracting a large crowd including notable figures like Elon Musk.

What technological milestone was introduced by Bitcoin OS recently?

Bitcoin OS introduced zero-knowledge proofs for the first time in Bitcoin transactions, allowing for scalability, privacy, and the introduction of smart contracts without needing a soft fork.

How does the introduction of zero-knowledge proofs impact Bitcoin's capabilities?

The introduction of zero-knowledge proofs allows Bitcoin to scale to thousands of transactions per second, have native private transactions, and support sophisticated smart contracts, making it competitive with other blockchain platforms like Ethereum and Solana.

What is the challenge of implementing ZK proof verification on Bitcoin?

The challenge is that a ZK proof verification program is very large and not practical to run on Bitcoin due to its limited scripting capabilities and inability to perform advanced math.

How did Bitcoin OS overcome the challenge of implementing ZK proofs on Bitcoin?

Bitcoin OS turned the ZK proof verification into an interactive protocol, creating a large Taproot tree with small chunks of the program that can be turned into Bitcoin script code.

What is a Taproot tree and how does it relate to ZK proof verification on Bitcoin?

A Taproot tree is a structure that includes all the small chunks of the ZK proof verification program. It allows for the smallest possible chunk of the program to be run as a Taproot leaf, making the proof verification practical on Bitcoin.

What is the virtual machine invented by Bitcoin OS for ZK proof verification?

The virtual machine invented by Bitcoin OS is specifically optimized for the math required by elliptic curve cryptography, allowing the ZK proof verification code to be ported and optimized for Bitcoin.

How does the interactive protocol involving the prover and verifier work in ZK proof verification?

The prover posts the proof to Bitcoin, and the verifier checks it. If the proof is incorrect, the verifier stakes funds to challenge it, and they begin an interactive protocol to resolve the disagreement. The protocol involves multiple steps and can be completed within a few blocks.

What is the consequence for the party that is dishonest during the interactive protocol?

If the prover is correct, they take the stake from the verifier. If the verifier is correct and the proof is wrong, the verifier takes the stake from the prover, ensuring that the dishonest party pays all the fees.

What are the next steps for Bitcoin OS in terms of ZK proof verification?

The next steps include turning the two-party protocol into a multi-party protocol for real-world security, building real-world applications with this technology, and developing trustless bridges between Bitcoin and other blockchains, as well as ZK rollups, smart contracts, decentralized exchanges, and stable coins.

How can interested individuals contribute to or learn more about Bitcoin OS's work?

Interested individuals can join the Bitcoin OS Telegram group, contribute as coders if they have the skills, and help develop the technology further by using the provided code on GitHub to verify the proof on the mainnet.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Bitcoin Conference Milestone: Introduction of Zero-Knowledge Proofs

The first paragraph of the script introduces the excitement surrounding the Bitcoin conference, where significant Bitcoin milestones are announced. The recent introduction of zero-knowledge proofs (ZK proofs) into Bitcoin transactions is highlighted as a major technological advancement. This development enables Bitcoin to scale to thousands of transactions per second without the need for the Lightning Network, introduces native private transactions, and allows for the integration of sophisticated smart contracts. The script also discusses the potential of trustless layer two rollups, which can facilitate various functionalities that were previously thought to be unattainable with Bitcoin. The speaker, Guy, CTO of Bitcoin OS, is introduced to explain how his team managed to implement ZK proofs without a soft fork or new bip codes.

05:03

🛠️ Technical Breakdown of Zero-Knowledge Proofs Integration in Bitcoin

In the second paragraph, the script delves into the technical aspects of integrating zero-knowledge proofs into Bitcoin. It explains that running a ZK proof verification program directly on Bitcoin is impractical due to the limitations of Bitcoin script and the large size of the program. Instead, an interactive protocol was developed, allowing two or more parties to negotiate the smallest possible chunk of the program that can be represented as Bitcoin script. The process involves building a large Taproot tree and a new virtual machine optimized for elliptic curve cryptography, which was used to port the ZK proof verification code. The script also describes the verification process involving a prover and a verifier, with the verifier having the option to challenge the proof by staking funds. The protocol is interactive, with the final transaction being successful if the proof is correct, and the dishonest party bearing the fees. The speaker invites the audience to verify the proof using code provided on GitHub.

10:03

🔗 Future Applications and Opportunities with ZK Proofs in Bitcoin

The final paragraph of the script discusses the future steps and applications of zero-knowledge proofs in Bitcoin. It mentions the need to evolve the two-party protocol into a multi-party protocol for real-world security and the intention to build real-world applications with this technology. The speaker highlights the potential for creating trustless bridges between Bitcoin and other blockchains, as well as the development of ZK rollups, smart contracts, decentralized exchanges, and stablecoins on the Bitcoin network. These applications could bring functionalities to Bitcoin that currently exist in the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) world. The script concludes with an invitation for coders to join the team via a QR code and a Telegram group, emphasizing the team's recruitment efforts.

Keywords

💡Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that operates on a peer-to-peer network without the need for intermediaries like banks. In the video, it is the central subject where major milestones are being discussed, including the introduction of zero-knowledge proofs to enhance its capabilities.

💡Zero-knowledge proofs

Zero-knowledge proofs are cryptographic methods that allow one party to prove to another that they know a value x, without conveying any information apart from the fact they know the value. In the script, this technology is highlighted as a significant milestone for Bitcoin, enabling private transactions and smart contracts without altering the existing consensus rules.

💡Transactions per second

This refers to the number of transactions that a system can process in one second, a key measure of scalability for any cryptocurrency. The video discusses how the introduction of zero-knowledge proofs could allow Bitcoin to scale to thousands of transactions per second without the need for the Lightning Network.

💡Private transactions

Private transactions are those that obscure the transaction amount and the identities of the parties involved. The script explains that with zero-knowledge proofs, Bitcoin can now facilitate native private transactions, enhancing user privacy.

💡Smart contracts

Smart contracts are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. The video mentions that the integration of zero-knowledge proofs allows for the introduction of sophisticated smart contracts into the Bitcoin ecosystem, broadening its application.

💡Layer 2 rollups

Layer 2 rollups are a scaling solution for blockchains that bundle multiple transactions together and settle them in a single on-chain transaction. The script describes how Bitcoin can now support trustless layer 2 rollups, enabling a variety of functionalities that were previously only possible on other blockchains.

💡Ethereum

Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts and has its own cryptocurrency, Ether. It is mentioned in the script as a blockchain that currently supports smart contracts and rollups, capabilities that Bitcoin is now able to match with the help of zero-knowledge proofs.

💡Soft Fork

A soft fork is a change to a blockchain protocol that is backward compatible, meaning that nodes running the old software will still accept blocks valid under the new rules. The script emphasizes that the introduction of zero-knowledge proofs was achieved without a soft fork, indicating a significant technical achievement.

💡Bitcoin OS

Bitcoin OS appears to be the organization behind the advancements discussed in the video. They are responsible for the implementation of zero-knowledge proofs on Bitcoin, as mentioned by the CTO, Guy, who explains the technical process in the script.

💡Taproot

Taproot is a protocol upgrade for the Bitcoin network that improves smart contract efficiency and privacy. In the script, a large Taproot tree is mentioned as part of the process to implement zero-knowledge proofs into Bitcoin transactions.

💡Merkle proofs

Merkle proofs are a method of efficiently summarizing and verifying the integrity of a large set of data. The script discusses representing state commitments as Merkle proofs to keep each transaction small, which is crucial for ensuring they get mined quickly.

Highlights

The conference is a hub for major Bitcoin milestones announcements.

Introduction of zero-knowledge proofs for Bitcoin transactions without soft forks or new bip codes.

Bitcoin can now scale to thousands of transactions per second without the Lightning Network.

Bitcoin now supports native private transactions.

Sophisticated smart contracts can be introduced into Bitcoin.

Bitcoin can achieve functionality comparable to Ethereum or Solana with zero-knowledge proofs.

GDI, the CTO of Bitcoin OS, explains the verification of ZK proofs on Bitcoin.

ZK proof verification is a large program impractical for Bitcoin's limited script.

Interactive protocol developed to narrow down the program into a Bitcoin script code.

Introduction of a large Taproot tree for efficient ZK proof verification.

Development of a new virtual machine optimized for elliptic curve cryptography.

Merkel proofs and state commitment representation to keep transactions under 100K.

Verification process involves a prover and verifier with an interactive protocol.

Costly verification process where the dishonest party pays the fees.

Transaction example provided with a simple code to verify the proof on Mainnet.

Next steps include turning the two-party protocol into a multi-party protocol for real-world applications.

Plans for trustless bridges between Bitcoin and other blockchains.

Potential for ZK rollups, smart contracts, decentralized exchanges, and stable coins on Bitcoin.

Invitation to join the team and contribute to Bitcoin OS development.

Transcripts

hello

Nashville Sounds like the mic's working

there are a lot of people here standing

in line because this conference has

become the place that major milestones

in Bitcoin are announced and everyone is

standing in line for Trump and maybe uh

Elon Musk to make an announcement which

is going to be yet another milestone in

Bitcoin but that isn't the only

significant Milestone that has been at

this particular particular Bitcoin

conference just a few days ago Bitcoin

OS announced something that on a

technological level is certainly no less

profound for the first time ever zero

knowledge proofs were introduced as

transactions to bitcoin mayet no

softwalk no changes we actually have

lift off for the first time ever we have

ZK proofs on bitcoin and what does this

mean it's means that Bitcoin is now able

even without lightning Network to scale

to thousands of transactions per second

it means that Bitcoin can now have

native private transactions and it means

that you can now for the first time

introduce sophisticated smart contracts

into Bitcoin but perhaps the most

phenomenal thing that this does is it

allows Bitcoin to have truly trustless

layer toos rollups where any type of

functionality can occur it used to be

the case that people said they needed to

create new chains because Bitcoin was

old boober coin and you couldn't do

enough things on it but with zero

knowledge proofs Bitcoin now has the

power to do anything that

ethereum that Solana or any other piece

of software in the blockchain space can

do so a lot of people have been asking

questions how was this accomplished how

did people manage how did Bitcoin OS

manage to do what people had said was

impossible to introduce zero knowledge

proofs without a soft Fork without a new

bip without any new up codes and here

from Bitcoin OS for the first time on

stage is gy Guy the CTO of Bitcoin OS

who's going to explain how his team

managed to pull off the impossible gy hi

guys so I'm GDI um I want to tell you

today about something that I personally

find very very exciting which is that we

have successfully verified the ZK proof

on top of

Bitcoin um keeping the existing um

consensus rules and I want to tell you a

little bit about how we did it and about

the opportunities that that opens up for

the Bitcoin

ecosystem okay so um as you might have

heard on July 23rd we have um done

something for the first time we we have

verified the ZK proof on top of Bitcoin

and I want to tell you about how I want

to tell you how we did it so a ZK proof

verification is essentially a program

that's very very large and it's not

really practical to run that on top of

Bitcoin because Bitcoin script is

extremely limited and doesn't have the

ability to do any kind of advanced

math and uh so u a SN verification

program if you did write that in Bitcoin

script would probably be about um at

least a terabyte in size which is

completely science fiction there's no

way to run that on bitcoin and so what

we did was we turned that into an

interactive protocol that allows two or

more parties to narrow down the program

and

negotiate um the smallest possible chunk

of that program that we can actually

turn into a Bitcoin script code and um

we build built a very very large Tapo

tree that includes all of these little

chunks and so after the protocol after

these two parties narrow down the

program to the bit where they disagree

on only that bit can be run as a tap rot

leaf and in the end you get a proof that

runs on top of Bitcoin and um either

succeeds if the SN verification succeeds

or fails if the SN verification fails um

so to do that with we've built a very

very large Depo

tree um and um we we invented a new kind

of virtual machine for this purpose that

is specifically optimized for the kind

of math that elliptic curve cryptography

requires and uh we used that we we

ported the snot verification code to

that virtual machine and that allows

allowed us to optimize the out of

it and we uh we also thought about doing

um representing the Merkel proofs

representing the the state commitment as

Merkel proofs in order to keep each

transaction down to at most

100K so here you can see what a

verification actually looks like this is

this is a real thing for mayet um so you

have a prover and the verifier that the

the prover initially posts the proof to

bitcoin and then the verifier can see

this check the proof and decide if the

proof is correct or incorrect if the

proof is incorrect the verifier has to

stake some funds in order to challenge

the the challenge the proof and then

they uh begin the interactive protocol

that you see um the Prov part that we

call we call Patrick is um colorcoded

blue and the verifier part that we call

um Victor is color colorcoded orange

um this this this case of the protocol

took about 25

steps um which was which we managed to

get into as few as six blocks okay and

the initial the the final step of the

protocol that you can see here labeled

step 26 is performed by the by the

prover and in this case since the proof

is correct the final transaction is

successful the the idea behind this this

is that since this can be quite costly

to do um if if the prover is is correct

and the proof is right then the Prov get

takes the stake from the verifier and if

the verifier is correct and the proof is

wrong then the verifier takes a state on

the approval which means basically that

the dishonest party is the one paying

all of the fees which is good and that

that means we don't really care how

expensive it is um the only real that we

have is that we want all the

transactions to be small enough that we

can make sure they get mined quickly

that's the that's the constraint that

that we had in this

case um so this is the first this is um

the initial transaction is on block

85326 and um you can you can copy the

transaction ID if you want and we also

put on GitHub um a little bit of code

that you guys can in Clone and um use it

to verify that the proof that we have on

Main net is actually correct I want to

show you um the code for a

second because it's really very simple

um can you read this

yeah yeah so basically we you can you

can download the code and you can just

take the transaction payload from the

actual transaction on a on um block

Explorer copy that into this um

repository and then you can just the the

code as you see is is is coded as a J

Test you can use J to run it and uh it

uses

sjs to verify the proof um very simple

so that you can actually see that what

we put on mainnet is is

real um and this is the the final

transaction is on block

85326 6 2 six we have also attached an

Nal to that block just to make it more

fun and more interesting and um that

ordinal will later be used to spawn new

ones and if you want you can um you can

join our group and um get free ordinals

is always

fun

um okay so what what are the next steps

so this this was a very very nice and

interesting demonstration and and um but

in order to make it the real world

application we still have to do a few

things few for example we have to uh to

turn the two-party protocol into a

multi-party protocol to so that the

security is real world security and uh

we're going to build real world

applications with this technology um

some that come come to mind is uh

something that we called Grail which is

the first trustless or nearly trustless

bridge between Bitcoin and VMS and what

I mean by trustless is that unlike most

bridges today that rely on a

multi- uh bridge will not rely on a

multi6 so um it's um it enjoys the full

security that ZK proofs can

provide additional killer apps that we

can build on this technology are um ZK

rollups smart contracts um decentralized

exchanges stable coins all of these

great and wonderful things that exist in

the evm world and don't exist yet on

bitcoin and that's something that we we

think really should

change please please scan the QR code um

we are hiring coders if anybody is

interested in um helping us you can join

our telegram group and um if you're a

top notes coder we'll welcome you to to

our

team and um that's it time's up thank

you

good