Union Bridge: A Trustless Gateway Between Bitcoin and Rootstock Powered by BitVMX

September 30, 2024

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←Knowledge Hub BitVMX Union Bridge

This article was originally published in Rootstock Labs’s webpage and it’s being included on BitVMX’s site. Fairgate and Rootstock Labs are the two founding sponsors of the BitVMX project.

During PoW Summit 2024, Sergio Demian Lerner, Chief Scientist at RootstockLabs and Fairgate Co-Founder, announced the collaborative efforts between RootstockLabs and Fairgate Labs to build the highly anticipated “Union Bridge.”

This new permissionless bridge will enable seamless and decentralized BTC transfers between Bitcoin and Rootstock, further empowering Bitcoin users to interact with decentralized applications and smart contracts through Rootstock’s EVM-compatible sidechain.

What is the new Union Bridge?

The Union Bridge is designed to be a permissionless bridge between Bitcoin and Rootstock blockchains. It will use BitVMX’s dispute-resolution model, enabling BTC to move seamlessly between Bitcoin and Rootstock’s ecosystem.

By locking BTC in Bitcoin and releasing equal RBTC on Rootstock, users will continue to be able to transfer and interact with decentralized applications (DeFi protocols, NFTs, etc.) on Rootstock, all while maintaining trustless and decentralized principles.

Utilizing the basics of BitVMX, this process won’t require any custodial intermediaries or collateralization in foreign tokens. Instead, it uses cryptographic proofs to ensure that every BTC transfer between chains is fully decentralized and verifiable.

Supported by RootstockLabs and Fairgate Labs

The development of Union Bridge is being supported by two research teams: RootstockLabs and Fairgate Labs. Together, these teams are driving the BitVMX proving system forward, focusing on scalability, security, and user-friendliness. Their joint research has already demonstrated the first-of-its-kind SNARK proof verification on Bitcoin mainnet, and the potential for further advancements, such as decentralized oracles and automated bug bounties running directly on Bitcoin.

As they continue to refine BitVMX’s capabilities, Union Bridge stands as a prime example of how the Bitcoin network can be extended into a robust, decentralized ecosystem without compromising its core principles.

What’s Next for Union Bridge?

The next phase for Union Bridge involves finalizing its design, ensuring flawless integration between Bitcoin and Rootstock, and undergoing rigorous testing on both testnet and mainnet environments. And, of course, the approval of this consensus change by the Rootstock community.

The whitepaper for the Union Bridge has been recently released, along with the open-sourcing of the code for BitVMX enabling anyone to build a trustless bridge between Bitcoin and other chains.