🌉Arch Overview
Arch Network establishes the foundational pillars for creating a vibrant ecosystem directly on Bitcoin—smart contract programmability and trustless interoperability—paving the way for a new wave of dApps and protocols on Bitcoin's base layer. Arch is structured as a two-piece layer designed to enhance Bitcoin's functionality, consisting of a ZKVM and a Decentralized Verifier Network. Together these two pieces form a trustless execution layer directly on Bitcoin. This integration not only preserves the security and liquidity of Bitcoin but also significantly enhances its capabilities, enabling rapid, secure, and fully verifiable smart contracts on Bitcoin.
Modular blockchains – a relatively new concept in crypto – are blockchains that are made up of different modules that can be added or removed as needed. Each module performs a specific function, making the blockchain more flexible and adaptable to changing needs, allowing for greater customization and specialization. Modular blockchains can help increase the scalability and efficiency of blockchain networks, allowing more people to begin to adopt and use crypto technology.
The Modular Blockchain Stack
The four main blockchain layers:
Execution: The environment where applications live and state changes are executed
Settlement: An optional hub for execution layers to verify proofs, resolve fraud disputes, and bridge between other execution layers.
Consensus: Agreement on the order of transactions
Data Availability: Verification that transaction data is available to download
Bitcoin's Shortcoming
Bitcoin, in its original design, lacks certain components of the modular blockchain stack that are essential for supporting complex smart contracts directly on its Layer 1. This is primarily because Bitcoin was conceived as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, focusing on simplicity, security, and decentralization over programmability. Here are some key reasons why Bitcoin doesn't inherently include the necessary pieces for comprehensive smart contract functionality:
Limited Scripting Language: Bitcoin's scripting language, Script, is intentionally limited in its capabilities to ensure security and simplicity. It lacks the Turing completeness found in languages used by platforms like Ethereum, which restricts the types of logic and conditions that can be executed in Bitcoin smart contracts.
Data and State Storage: Bitcoin's blockchain is optimized for storing transaction data rather than the state information required by complex smart contracts. The lack of statefulness in Bitcoin's design makes it challenging to implement dynamic smart contracts that can interact and update according to varying conditions.
Execution Environment: Bitcoin does not have a native execution environment that can run complex smart contracts. Platforms that support advanced dApps, like Ethereum, have a Virtual Machine (EVM) that provides a controlled environment for executing smart contracts. Bitcoin's architecture does not include a comparable component for processing complex decentralized applications.
The Ordinal & Arch Upgrade
Enhanced Data Availability: By enabling the storage of additional data within transactions, ordinals expand Bitcoin's utility as a data ledger, not just a financial ledger. This increased data availability opens up new possibilities for embedding state information and metadata directly on-chain, which is crucial for applications like smart contracts that require accessible and verifiable state data.
Execution Layer Creation : Arch creates Bitcoin's Execution Layer by introducing smart contract programmability directly on Bitcoin's Layer 1. This allows for the execution of complex applications and state changes, expanding Bitcoin's capabilities beyond simple transactions to include decentralized applications (dApps), DeFi protocols, and more.
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