Bitcoin

Singaporean blockchain developer Elastos has unveiled its BeL2 layer-2 network set to run on top of the Bitcoin blockchain, eventually prompting a token price surge.<h2 id="header-0">50% increase</h2>The project aims to address challenges such as transaction volume limitations and the complexity of programmable contracts within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Despite the initial muted response from the crypto community after the late November announcement, Elastos’ native token, ELA, has experienced an extraordinary surge on Wednesday. Over the course of the past 24 hours, the token’s unit price has jumped from $2.06 to $3.09. That represents a 50% increase.<h2 id="header-1">Bringing smart contracts to Bitcoin</h2>On Dec. 2, the project <a href="https://elastos.info/blog/bel2-whitepaper-bitcoin-revolution/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">released</a> its BeL2 whitepaper, describing it as “a transformative approach to enhancing Bitcoin’s functionality.” BeL2 has the potential to bring about significant advancements by leveraging SmartWeb technology to introduce staking solutions and incorporate zero-knowledge proof technology.A zk proof is a cryptographic method through which one party can prove to another party that a particular statement is true, all the while avoiding the leakage of any additional information aside from confirming the statement is true. Up until now, zk proofs have been largely the preserve of Ethereum-centric projects.Alongside zk proofs, BeL2 will utilize Bitcoin-powered Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) smart contracts. This approach is expected to expedite transactions within the network and introduce governance through a decentralized model.<h2 id="header-2">BeL2 roadmap</h2>The roadmap for BeL2 includes a three-month development phase for a proof-of-concept, followed by an additional three months dedicated to the decentralization of relayers. These relayers, acting as third-party services facilitating communication and data transactions between different blockchain networks, play a crucial role in the overall implementation of BeL2.Elastos envisions BeL2 as a Layer 2 network built on Bitcoin, introducing sophisticated BTC transactions on its blockchain. Beyond staking, the network aims to provide direct yield and affordable transactions on native decentralized applications. The move marks a significant shift, allowing Bitcoin holders to stake their assets directly, unlocking potential value exceeding $700 billion.Looking ahead, Elastos plans to chart the decentralized finance (DeFi) course on BTC by enabling smart contract deployment and irreversible digital agreements between participants.As interest in Bitcoin continues to rise, driven by innovations like inscriptions and spot ETF discussions in the United States, Elastos’ BeL2 initiative is garnering greater attention, relative to the potential to usher in a new era of possibilities for the world’s most popular digital currency.The project was founded in 2017 by Rong Chen, a former senior software engineer at Microsoft. Taking to the X <a href="https://x.com/chen2rong2/status/1733227525453824181?s&#61;20" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">social media platform</a> earlier this month, Chen wrote:“I don’t see any other paths to the final <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Web3?src&#61;hashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#Web3</a> destination except:(1) A <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BTC?src&#61;hashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#BTC</a> merge mining blockchain, plus smart-contract sidechains as needed;(2) A <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SmartWeb?src&#61;hashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#SmartWeb</a> operating system (OS) to facilitate personal node to own data, plus personal-node to personal-node direct communication links;(3) Personal Cloud Compute (<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PC2?src&#61;hashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#PC2</a>) Runtime sandbox, so individuals are on the same footing as big brothers;(4) Digital goods software-development-kits (embedded OS <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SDKs?src&#61;hashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#SDKs</a>), entrusting your data to nobody else but yourself, i.e., your own code to check access tickets/tokens before loading and rendering data.”The Elastos ecosystem employs three-layer consensus mechanisms: auxiliary proof-of-work, proof-of-integrity and bonded proof-of-stake. It’s hoped that the project can <a href="https://x.com/ElastosWeb3/status/1737451334863913321?s&#61;20" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">improve upon</a> the original layer-2 solution for Bitcoin, the Lightning Network, which has had issues in terms of scalability and centralization risk.

Bitcoin layer-2 project Elastos sees ELA token surge

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