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BOB (“Building on Bitcoin”), a hybrid Layer 2 solution leveraging Bitcoin and Ethereum, has taken a significant step forward by successfully testing the first prototype of a BitVM-powered Bitcoin bridge. The in-production prototype was developed in partnership with Fiamma, and will provide a low-trust BTC bridge. Doing so represents a milestone in scaling the chain — with Bitcoin, the asset, at the center.

BitVM bridges stand out Of the existing solutions such as wBTC or com. cbBTC - Which rely on central entities - and semi-reliable models. By contrast, BitVM Financial leverages A fraud-resistant system, where Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals are secured as long as one of the participants acts honestly.

“Bitcoin security and the trust-reduced BTC bridge are the most important pillars of Bitcoin L2s,” said Alexey Zamyatin, co-founder of BOB and BitVM2 shareholder.

The bridge prototype is expected to be deployed on the BOB test network in early 2025, followed by the rollout of the main network after audits. Additionally, BOB announced plans to integrate with the Bitcoin staking service Babylon With the aim of establishing itself as a Bitcoin-secured network with Bitcoin finality.

Indicating Bitcoin scaling preferences

Open wiki style Signals Forum Bitcoin soft fork upgrades reflect the growing need for community consensus on conventions such as OP_CAT and OP_CTV. Developers, including Zamyatin, were involved in the proposals. For example, Zamyatin marked OP_CTV as “weak,” while indicating a “rating” for OP_CAT, thus indicating areas that require further discussion.

The forum is valuable because it brings together justifications in one place, moving discussions away from battles on social media, according to Zamyatin.

“It makes it easier to evaluate proposals, summarize the pros and cons, and have meaningful discussions,” he added. Blockworks said.

The signaling process revealed divided opinions: while OP_CTV received moderate consensus, OP_CAT and others remain controversial. As Zamyatin noted, achieving widespread agreement will only get more difficult as Bitcoin adoption increases.

For BOB and the broader Bitcoin ecosystem, these upgrades could eventually enable more advanced capabilities, including native zk validators – a vital step towards securely scaling Bitcoin.

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