Protocol Village: ZK Proofs Arrive on Bitcoin, Roxom Launches Bitcoin-Based Stock, Commodities and Futures Exchange

July 25: BitcoinOS, a network of Bitcoin-based rollup chains, has verified the first-ever zero-knowledge (ZK) proof on Bitcoin’s mainchain. ZK cryptography is looked to as a key technology for scaling blockchain throughput and usefulness, but the tech is complicated and computationally intense – meaning it was unclear if or when it would make its way to the comparatively bare-bones Bitcoin network. According to the BitcoinOS team, “This is the first permissionless upgrade of the Bitcoin system and the first time Bitcoin has been upgraded without a soft fork.” Bitcoin can now be “infinitely upgradable,” the team told CoinDesk, “while requiring no changes to the consensus code.” BitcoinOS aims to be the “ultimate implementation of a Bitcoin rollup system,” eventually serving as a bridge connecting any number of rollups – quick and cheap layer-2 blockchains that are secured by the Bitcoin blockchain and ZK proofs.

July 25 (PROTOCOL VILLAGE EXCLUSIVE): Roxom raised $4.3 million in pre-seed funding to launch the first stock, commodities, and futures exchange denominated in Bitcoin. The company was founded by CEO Borja Martel and CTO Nick Damico. Martel previously founded the LATAM-based crypto exchange Lemon. Roxom’s round was led by Kingsway, Draper, and David Marcus, among others. “Bitcoin native financial markets are an important step for holders to access a wide range of financial services natively. Roxom is an important step in that direction,” said Marcus.

July 25: P2P.org is set to integrate the just-launched Avail Network into its non-custodial staking platform. According to the team, the integration with Avail’s data availability network will enable “smoother cross-chain transactions, improving overall blockchain interaction.” Key highlights, according to P2P, include a “0% fee incentive for the first three months of staking AVAIL, successful testnet phases managing over 300 million requests and 37,000 concurrent connections, and the deployment of innovative solutions like a proxy balancer for enhanced network capacity.”

July 25 (PROTOCOL VILLAGE EXCLUSIVE): Bitcoin-based Layer-2 service Elastos says it has introduced native bitcoin staking for the first time ever. From the team: “Using the Elastos BeL2 SDK, partners can develop Native Bitcoin dapps aimed at encouraging the staking of over 1 Trillion dormant Bitcoins.” The SDK debuted at Bitcoin Nashville 2024, with the StarBTC demo loan app. “Elastos is the sole L2 with innovative arbiter node technology and smart contracts, facilitating dispute resolution and revenue opportunities to node holders who stake Elastos ELA or BTC,” said the team.

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