Bitcoin off chain MPC Layer 2 protocol. First live state chain implementation.
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Joined February 2021
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Mercury Layer retweeted
Stoked to announce this!
Zark is a transfer-of-ownership protocol that collapses offchain histories into compact zero-knowledge proofs.
Previous bitcoin l2 implementations have shown that co-signers can be blinded and unaware of what they’re signing. In some designs, users validate the history of offchain coins they receive.
Zark compresses these histories into recursive zero-knowledge proofs. A side effect is that this removes the need for users to learn who a coin’s previous owners are.
Zark is based on the statechain paradigm. It enables users to transfer ownership of bitcoin UTXOs offchain with the help of a co-signer. In Zark, users can also engage in offchain coinswaps to transfer ownership for bitcoin UTXOs for other bitcoin UTXOs. We’re looking at adding support to swaps against tokens on alternative networks, like we did in our bitcoin dark pools demo with @mercurylayer.
Current research areas for us:
- Leaf splitting while retaining privacy for branches
- Scalability!
- Optimizing zk-circuits and proving system
Circuits are written in @noirlang.
Mercury Layer retweeted
also not shy about about takings others work and providing no credit. @mercurylayer
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Mercury Layer retweeted
Nice to hear @mercurylayer still getting some love...
Privacy on Bitcoin is a constant battle, but what if statechains were part of the answer?
In this clip from Chat_176, Talip and I explore how statechains can enable private Bitcoin activity without exposing your moves on L1. We get into amount-hiding sidechains, dark pools, and why designs that auto-return funds to you if a custodian disappears are so powerful. This one’s a technical nerd-snipe into the future of private Bitcoin markets and smarter custody.
Mercury Layer retweeted
Spark could not even do the blinded stuff that @MercuryLayer had working 2 years ago!
Mercury Layer retweeted
And in some ways less. No blinded signer which is the key innovation of @mercurylayer
Mercury Layer retweeted
The code for Mercury Layer is sitting right here. It needs a new champion. Lightspark is basically the same protocol. Cc: @TTrevethan @mercurylayer @gregory_nico
github.com/commerceblock/mer…
Mercury Layer retweeted
Statechains are only interested when they are blinded. @mercurylayer implemented this two years ago, all open source…
Found out today that @lightspark's statechain model does NOT use a blinded server. It's not a privacy tool. That's sad. I recommend preferring Mercury's over Lightspark's if privacy is important to you.
Mercury Layer retweeted
This guy has not heard of @mercurylayer or OpenDimes…
Recently, I have seen several instances where people receive crypto by receiving a private key or a hardware wallet.
This is a bad idea.
The giver still has access to those crypto. You should move the crypto to an address you own. Or better, just ask the giver to send it to an address you own.
Having two people access the same key (or seed) is a bad idea. When those crypto move (or by a hacker), it's almost impossible to prove who moved it (or got hacked).
Mercury Layer retweeted
Bitcoin wasn’t hijacked; it was understood early that blockchains don’t scale easily, much like databases. How do Google/Amazon scale? With multiple DBs and caches. Bitcoin hasn’t cracked that yet—truth is, demand isn’t overwhelming.
This debate reminds me of my time at Merrill Lynch: a manager (with no coding experience) demanded I make risk calculations multithreaded. I told him it was dumb. He moved me off the team and spent millions on a multithreaded project—when it went live, it ran slower.
The point? Tools like multithreading—or increasing block size—are context-specific. They’re not magic fixes, and applying them blindly can backfire. Lessons from both Bitcoin and corporate life.
Mercury Layer retweeted
Originally i wanted to contribute to bitcoin because I was genuinely board in my 9 - 5 job and bitcoin looked like something that could change the world...
Mercury Layer retweeted
This is outrageous—a government official attacking Bitcoin without evidence of it being used in this way. Pure fear-mongering. Yet another dark day under one of the most clueless governments we’ve seen...
Mercury Layer retweeted
There’s been some confusion about what @mercurylayer is (and isn’t). The original concept explored a mechanism to send private keys via adaptor signatures. However, this wasn’t feasible at the time due to the lack of Schnorr signatures, plus the complexity of passing an adaptor signature between owners. The key innovation of @mercurylayer is the key update mechanism, allowing a private key to be updated while keeping the public key the same, enabling off-chain transfers. Later, we advanced this to make the process blinded.@TTrevethan #bitcoin #layer2
Mercury Layer retweeted
Surprised to see you tagging Andreas in this conversation while breaching the actual ethos of open source software (esp in Bitcoin) and not crediting a single second the work of @mercurylayer @TTrevethan and @gregory_nico that’s been years in the making (since early 2020). :)
Mercury Layer retweeted
Great to see another statechain. The more the merrier...
This quoted post is unavailable.
Mercury Layer retweeted
What projects are building on state channels?
🔹 @mercurylayer enables Bitcoin UTXO transfers off-chain via shared key custody and statechains, allowing instant, zero-cost transactions without on-chain confirmation.
🔸The Lightning Network facilitates fast, low-cost Bitcoin transactions off-chain by creating payment channels between users, significantly enhancing scalability and reducing blockchain congestion.
Mercury Layer retweeted
Really interested and well written paper on Bitcoin scaling via ZKPs. Some challenges around verifying ZKPs using polynomial operations, but the ideas are promising. Perhaps @mercurylayer’s MPC-based trusted setup could help with the initial covenant deployer, ensuring secure off-chain execution. Still need a lot more study on feasibility, but it’s exciting to see these innovations being explored for Bitcoin’s growth! #Bitcoin #zkProofs #Layer2
Bitcoin PIPEs: Covenants and ZKPs on the Bitcoin L1 without Soft Fork.
allocin.it/uploads/placehold…
Mercury Layer retweeted
More building of sample @mercurylayer apps. This time using a electron to as to fire up simple UI. #bitcoin #Layer2 #Statechains
github.com/nicosey/electronM…
A @mercurylayer statecoin blindly signs a psuedo-chain of backup transactions, but these are not broadcasted. Its uses MuSig2.
Its live and and production ready...
