Bitcoin Layer Landscape, of Bitcoin Magazine, met with Michael from Boltz and Tiero from Ark Labs at the most recent Bitcoin++ developer conference in Austin, TX, to talk about the most recent advancements in the Bitcoin ecosystem, with a special emphasis on Lightning Network, Liquid, and cutting-edge technologies like Ark.
THE JOURNEY AND CHALLENGES OF LIGHTNING
Michael offered reflections on the Lightning Network’s journey and insights into the difficulties encountered, particularly in high-fee areas. “The biggest blind spot that was glaringly obvious recently was like in a high-fee environment, Lightning tends to hurt a lot,” he stated. He went into further detail about the challenges caused by fee increases and the need for improved planning and remedies, like shifting operations via submarine swaps to various chains.
Tiero emphasized the underappreciated difficulty that Lightning’s infrastructure presents. To improve user experience, he made note of the necessity for creative designs that employ Lightning to link different layers, Bitcoin Layer Landscape, such as Fedimint, Liquid, and Ark. “Lightning will always be the way to connect all these new ideas,” Tiero stated.
LIQUID’S CONTESTED ROLE
Liquid has proven to be a solid and dependable platform, according to both Michael and Tiero, despite its comparatively low usage when compared to other technologies. “Liquid is no stranger to the scene. It is well-known and has endured. Michael remarked, “It’s still around today,” emphasizing the platform’s durability and dependability throughout time. For developers who want to create and test new solutions without having to worry about frequent outages, this stability is essential.
In his explanation of the benefits of sidechains such as Liquid, Ark Labs‘ Tiero emphasized how they can lessen congestion on the main chain of Bitcoin. “The main chain can be less stressed with a side chain that has well-defined trade-offs,” he stated, highlighting the unique advantages of Liquid’s architecture, such as reduced transaction costs and expedited processing times. In high-fee contexts, where shifting processes off the main chain might result in large cost reductions, the Bitcoin Layer Landscape can be especially helpful.
Michael also talked about how fresh blockchain ideas are competing with each other, saying that Liquid’s proven track record provides a level of predictability and trust that other solutions might not have. “In the grand scheme of things of the new proposals coming up, I think Liquid is here to stay for at least quite a while.”
EMERGING STANDARDS & INTEROPERABILITY
Michael Boltz from Boltz discussed how the ecosystem is fragmented and the crucial role his company may play in supplying liquidity across various chains and services. For the ecosystem to remain dynamic and interconnected, the capacity to enable swaps across different Bitcoin layers—such as Lightning, the main chain, and Liquid—is essential. By providing these services, Bitcoin Layer Landscape, Boltz helps customers move assets more easily by bridging the boundaries between various platforms.
Michael also emphasized how crucial it is to increase service provider competition to guarantee that customers get the best possible prices. “An open specification would make sense in the end, but this process is still very early,” he said, emphasizing the need for experimentation before standardization. The best practices can be found during this experimental phase and used to guide the creation of standardized protocols.
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Michael’s remarks were mirrored by Ark Labs‘ Tiero, who added that it is currently difficult to create universal standards due to the variety of user needs. “Every business has its own user and sensibility to their user.” He said that efforts toward standardization will be justified in the long run by a more expansive and diverse ecosystem, but in the short term, companies must be able to adapt and innovate to meet the needs of their particular user groups.
They both agreed that letting businesses experiment and innovate freely is the current top priority. “We can move so much faster if we can just try out things ourselves and see where it goes,” Michael stated. In the long run, Bitcoin Layer Landscape, strategy fosters a more robust and resilient ecosystem by enabling fast iteration and adaptability.
Bitcoin Layer Landscape: INNOVATING WITH ARK
Tiero from Ark Labs gave us a fascinating look at Ark, their most recent project. “ARK is still in a post-idea stage.” He clarified that the goal is to develop a protocol that works in unison with Lightning and other current technologies so that it can fulfill the needs of its customers.
We were able to demonstrate that it is feasible and effective. And the next stage, in my opinion, will be to attempt to figure out what the actual use cases are that have such high demand,” said Tiero. By concentrating on useful applications and actual user requirements, ARK hopes to develop a strong, approachable protocol that tackles the ecosystem’s present shortcomings.
A crucial component of ARK’s development strategy is experimentation. Before completing the particular specs, Tiero stressed the value of testing in adaptable settings like Liquid. “Let’s just go where it’s super flexible and Liquid has introspectional code at the maximum level so you can do recursive covenants,” he said. With this strategy, the team can fully investigate the protocol’s potential and make the required modifications in response to feedback and real-world applications.
Michael brought up the unpredictability of ARK’s future use cases and liquidity needs. It’s also the return of the unknown unknowns. Theoretically, it’s intriguing for service providers who already have liquidity,” he stated, Bitcoin Layer Landscape, highlighting the necessity for additional research and development.
Bitcoin Layer Landscape: OPTIMISM FOR BITCOIN’S FUTURE
As the conversation came to an end, Michael and Tiero both had a lot of confidence in the future of covenant technology and Bitcoin layers. Particularly optimistic about the developments in covenant technology, Tiero saw it as a game-changer that would improve protocols like ARK and Lightning. “After these two days, I’m extremely optimistic about the topic because, for the first time, Bitcoin Layer Landscape, everyone working with Covenant in production or in general, they are very knowledgeable about it.” He praised the chance for specialists to get together and work through these concepts in a cooperative setting that fosters ground-breaking creativity.
They also commended particular initiatives, such as the restoration effort spearheaded by Rusty Russell, which intends to gradually improve Bitcoin’s scripting capabilities. “We have something to discuss with Rusty’s model—a computational framework for understanding these covenants—and we can, as I mentioned, safely and sensibly bring back Bitcoin script to its former glory,” Michael added.
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