BitVM R&D Group Launches With $500,000 Funding From Stacks Foundation

Stacks Foundation, an innovative team that is working on various implementations of programmable Bitcoin (BTC) L2s, shares details of its latest R&D initiative, its objectives and funding plan.

Stacks Working Group starts researching BitVM

Stacks Working Group, a new research team of cryptocurrency professionals, starts its study program with focus on BitVM, a computational layer based on Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency. This statement was made by Stacks Foundation’s Head of Growth Mitchell Cuevas on March 28, 2024.

Can we build better Bitcoin layers with BitVM? 🟧

A new @Stacks Working Group with an initial allocation of $500,000 is going to find out!

Plus, they’ll be open-sourcing everything they learn for the broader Bitcoin ecosystem to benefit from.

🧵

— Stacks Foundation 🟧 (@StacksOrg) March 28, 2024

Leveraging Stacks as a robust initial case study, the BitVM-focused Working Group will look to accelerate the development of BitVM while determining how it might improve trust assumptions on the network.

Technologies like BitVM are complementary to networks like Stacks and other layers seeking the most secure, direct connection to the Bitcoin L1.

BitVM is a computing paradigm that hopes to “enable a free market of second layers, potentially scaling Bitcoin to billions of users.” BitVM is able to fuel many Web3 developments on Bitcoin (BTC), including the likes of Stacks, Bitcoin rollups and trust-minimized bridges. The core design of BitVM takes computation off-chain and implements a fraud-proving mechanism on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Stacks Foundation allocates $500,000 for new group, opens lead researcher position

The Stacks Foundation is allocating an initial minimum of $500,000 to support the Working Group, with more funding made available as the group accomplishes milestones and progresses with the technology.

Further, the Stacks ecosystem is expected to invest more than $2 million on research and development over the next 12-18 months, assuming a viable path forward is determined and steady progress can be made as BitVM and other related technologies evolve toward production-ready solutions.

As covered by U.Today previously, BitVM is among the most promising developments for the entire Bitcoin (BTC) scene for the upcoming bullish rally.

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