Happy Birthday to the Bitcoin Whitepaper which turns 18 today! From an idea on a mailing list to an asset held by public companies, funds and governments. The journey the big B took to get here was full of ups and downs but is magic internet money starting to grow up? From humble beginnings Bitcoin began […]
Most losses in Bitcoin-adjacent systems do not start on Bitcoin itself. They start at the edges where the Bitcoin network is exposed to other systems. Whether it’s the bridge that moves BTC onto another network and back again, the vendors who handle customer records, the firmware that is supposed to generate unguessable keys or the […]
As blockchain networks continue to mature, the conversation around scalability is changing. For years, the focus has largely been on increasing throughput and reducing transaction costs. Those metrics still matter, but they don’t tell the full story of what it takes to support applications at scale. Today’s blockchain networks are expected to support a much […]
Bitcoin is no longer just a store of value. Institutions are now asking the next question: how do we put it to work? Over the past decade, Bitcoin has proven itself as a neutral settlement layer. It does not depend on an issuer, a jurisdiction, or a shifting monetary policy. That reliability is why it […]
Most people evaluate Bitcoin bridges with a simple shortcut: is it a federation, or is it a validator model? In that mental model, a federation bridge is a multisig controlled by a set of known parties. A validator model is a separate group that watches one chain and attests to actions on another. Both categories […]
Billions of dollars in Bitcoin are sitting idle. For years, holders looking for on-chain yield or DeFi access have relied on wrapped BTC products and trusted custodians to keep their assets safe. History has shown how fragile that model can be. When custodians fail or validators act together, users lose funds and the security that […]
In the latest episode of Rootstock Fundamentals, we dive into the network’s security architecture — and explore the defense mechanisms deployed to keep assets safe. To do that, we’re joined by Rootstock’s co-founder and Chief Scientist Sergio Demian Lerner. A long-standing issue across the industry has been something known as the “blockchain trilemma.” This relates […]
Rootstock Fundamentals is back for a third episode — and this time, we’re exploring RBTC with senior engineering director José Dahlquist. RBTC is a “Smart Bitcoin” that allows BTC owners to interact with DeFi protocols and decentralized apps — boosting the utility of the world’s best-known cryptocurrency. José has often described RBTC as a little […]
Rootstock is Bitcoin’s first and longest-running sidechain, but why is this network needed, and what does it deliver to the crypto community? To explore all this, RootstockLabs launched a new podcast called Rootstock Fundamentals. The show is designed to be the ultimate beginner’s guide — and features interviews with key contributors to the Rootstock ecosystem. […]
