Recently, a BTC Layer2 project called BEVM announced that it has received an investment from Bitmain, with a post-investment valuation of $200 million. This financing news has attracted considerable attention.
The focus of this news is not the valuation, but the investor, Bitmain. Since its establishment in 2013, Bitmain has dominated the global Bitcoin mining machine market with its leading Bitcoin mining machine research and development technology. It not only holds the top position in the mining machine business globally but also has absolute influence in the global Bitcoin mining community through its mining farms and pools.
Since 2023, the popularity of Bitcoin NFTs has sparked rapid development in the Bitcoin ecosystem, with numerous Bitcoin application projects and Layer2 projects to enhance Bitcoin’s performance emerging. However, despite the Bitcoin ecosystem being highly favorable for the mining community, there is still a lack of leading figures like Bitmain in the mining ecosystem.
Many people previously believed that institutions like Bitmain would not be interested in the Bitcoin ecosystem, but Bitmain’s decisive investment dispelled all doubts.
In addition, after the launch of the BEVM mainnet, it conducted an on-chain airdrop activity with Binance Web3 Wallet. BEVM is also the first BTC Layer2 project to be integrated into the Binance Web3 mainnet.
So, as an investment from Bitmain and the first BTC Layer2 project integrated by Binance, what are the highlights and advantages of BEVM that allow it to stand out from the crowd of BTC Layer2 projects and gain support from two top-tier institutions in the Crypto industry?
What is Taproot Consensus?
In my opinion, whether it is Bitmain’s investment or Binance’s support, the priority consideration must be the project’s security, technological innovation, and its long-term value and impact on their own brands. For a BTC Layer2 project, its underlying technology is the foundation of everything.
Before understanding BEVM, we need to know an important concept about Bitcoin Layer2 – Taproot Consensus. This is a fully decentralized BTC Layer2 solution proposed by the BEVM team in 2021 based on the Bitcoin Taproot upgrade.
Taproot Consensus = Schnorr Signature + MAST + Bitcoin SPV Node Network. Let’s break it down step by step.
Schnorr Signature:
Schnorr Signature is a digital signature algorithm introduced in the 2021 Bitcoin Taproot upgrade. Compared to elliptic curve signatures, Schnorr Signature has the advantage of expanding Bitcoin’s multi-signature addresses to 1000. This means that 1000 Taproot wallet addresses can collectively manage the same BTC assets while ensuring efficiency, security, and privacy. Traditional Bitcoin multi-signatures based on elliptic curve signatures can only have a maximum limit of 15 addresses, while Schnorr Signature enables sufficient decentralization of multi-signature addresses.
However, it is not enough to just achieve decentralization of multi-signature addresses; automation and intelligence in signature processes are also required. In other words, it needs to be code-driven rather than relying on individuals for signatures.
Imagine if a BTC Layer2 project requires a group of people to sign each address that holds the Bitcoin assets, the efficiency would be significantly low, and the security would be compromised.
Therefore, after achieving the decentralization of multi-signature addresses, MAST (Merkle Abstract Syntax Tree) needs to be introduced to automate and code the signatures.
MAST is also one of the core technologies introduced in the Bitcoin Taproot upgrade. MAST stands for Merkle Abstract Syntax Tree, which uses a Merkle tree to encrypt complex locking scripts. The leaves of the tree are a series of non-overlapping scripts (such as multi-signatures or time locks). When spending, only the relevant scripts and the path from the script to the Merkle tree root need to be disclosed. MAST can be understood as a “smart contract” running on the Bitcoin chain that can handle multi-signature payments (although it is different from Ethereum’s smart contracts, it can achieve similar effects when applied to Bitcoin’s Schnorr multi-signatures).
With MAST, Schnorr Signature can be automated, intelligent, and coded. The concept of “multiple signers” is eliminated here, and code instructions take their place. This is a very important point.
So, who issues the instructions? It is the Bitcoin SPV Node Network that issues the instructions.
The Bitcoin SPV Node Network is a network composed of Bitcoin light nodes running on the BTC Layer2 network. It relies on BFT network consensus to drive MAST to issue instructions. It is not driven by any organization or individual, achieving complete decentralization.
Why use the Bitcoin SPV Node Network instead of a regular POS node network? Because Bitcoin light nodes can synchronize Bitcoin Layer1 data and can verify payments conveniently and securely without having complete transaction records. This achieves SPV (Simplified Payment Verification), a simple payment verification scheme proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto in the Bitcoin whitepaper.
In summary:
Schnorr Signature allows Bitcoin multi-signature addresses to expand to 1000, achieving decentralization of multi-signature addresses.
MAST enables code-driven management of multi-signatures, eliminating the need for manual signatures and relying on code instructions.
The Bitcoin Light Node Network realizes multi-signature driven by the Bitcoin light node network consensus, achieving complete decentralization of Bitcoin cross-chain transactions and management.
Schnorr Signature + MAST + Bitcoin SPV Node Network together build a fully decentralized BTC Layer2 solution called Taproot Consensus.
Why is BEVM worth attention in the BTC Layer2 space?
On the other hand, Taproot Consensus was proposed by the BEVM team, and BEVM is the first BTC Layer2 use case for Taproot Consensus.
What sets Taproot Consensus apart is that it is a second-layer solution completely built on Bitcoin’s native technology. It does not introduce any technology outside of Bitcoin or make any changes to Bitcoin’s code. Instead, it combines the native technologies of Bitcoin – Schnorr Signature, MAST, and Bitcoin SPV Node Network.
It can be said that this is currently the most native and decentralized BTC Layer2 solution, which is why it has been described by the community as a Bitcoin Layer2 solution that can rival Ethereum’s Layer2 Rollup.
In contrast, most of the other Bitcoin Layer2 solutions in the market are simply copying Ethereum’s Layer2 solutions. For example, forcing Bitcoin to adopt ZK-Rollup. Firstly, Bitcoin miners only verify data related to Bitcoin transactions and cannot verify other data such as ZKP. Since Bitcoin Rollup cannot achieve the same security as Ethereum Rollup on Bitcoin Layer1, ZK-Rollup or OP-Rollup does not make sense for Bitcoin Layer2. These solutions are mere imitations and do not demonstrate professionalism and rigor.
Similarly, there are other seemingly clear Layer2 solutions like RGB and BitVM, but they still attempt to expand within the limited block space and minimal UTXO model of Bitcoin. This not only contradicts the purity of Bitcoin but also makes it difficult to truly expand Bitcoin’s Layer2. After all, based on UTXO, only simple asset issuance can be done. To achieve greater scalability for Bitcoin, Bitcoin needs to move to Layer2 in a trustless manner to expand application scenarios.
Currently, BEVM’s Taproot Consensus Bitcoin Layer2 solution not only fully inherits Bitcoin’s native technology but also allows Bitcoin to move to Layer2 in a completely decentralized manner without modifying any Bitcoin code or consensus. This achieves unlimited scalability for Bitcoin, making it a truly innovative and practical Bitcoin Layer2 solution.
After all, only by achieving decentralization and trustlessness can we solve the issue of BTC Layer2 asset security. By solving the asset security issue, we can steadily and sustainably build the on-chain ecosystem and applications for Bitcoin.
In the end, security and sustainable long-term development are perhaps the most important criteria for top-tier institutions like Bitmain and Binance to support ecological projects. Undoubtedly, BEVM perfectly meets these principles.
In my opinion, this is the only answer as to why BEVM stands out from the crowd of BTC Layer2 projects.
While mid-tier institutions choose rapid growth, top-tier institutions choose steady and sustainable long-term development. This is an unchanging rule in any field.
