The Culmination of Bitcoin's Native Technology: An Analysis of Taproot Consensus Technology

On May 20, 2024, the BEVM team released the technical white paper "Taproot Consensus: A Decentralized BTC Layer2 Solution." This solution cleverly integrates several native technologies of Bitcoin, including Schnorr signatures, MAST, SPV nodes, etc., to construct a fully decentralized Bitcoin layer two scaling solution.

To better understand the ins and outs of Taproot Consensus, it is necessary for us to review the technological development history of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Technology Development Milestones

On October 31, 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin white paper, introducing the concept of SPV (Simple Payment Verification) for the first time.

On January 3, 2009, the Bitcoin genesis block was born. The initial version used Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) instead of the more suitable Schnorr signatures, mainly because Schnorr signatures had not yet been open-sourced at that time.

In 2018, Bitcoin core developers officially proposed to introduce Schnorr signatures into the Bitcoin network.

On November 14, 2021, Bitcoin completed the Taproot upgrade, officially introducing Schnorr signatures and MAST (Merkel Abstract Syntax Tree) technology. The combination of these two technologies has paved the way for Bitcoin to achieve decentralized multi-signature and smart contract-like functionalities.

Taproot Consensus Overview

The Taproot Consensus plan cleverly integrates Bitcoin's Taproot technology (including Schnorr signatures and MAST), SPV light nodes, and the BFT PoS consensus mechanism to construct a decentralized and highly consistent Layer 2 network.

The core components of this plan include:

1. Schnorr+MAST: Using Bitcoin native technology to achieve decentralized multi-signature management.
2. Bitcoin SPV: Allows the verification of Bitcoin transactions without running a full node.
3. Aura+Grandpa: An advanced PoS consensus protocol that achieves Byzantine fault tolerance.

Taproot Consensus Operating Principle

In the BEVM system, each validator holds a BTC private key used for Schnorr signatures. The aggregate public key Pagg generated through the Musig2 multi-signature scheme forms a large MAST tree. Validators achieve the functionality of submitting data from the BTC mainnet to the BEVM network by transferring BTC and performing inscription operations to the threshold signature address generated by the MAST tree.

At the same time, each validator acts as a Bitcoin SPV light node, capable of securely and permissionlessly synchronizing the BTC network status. BEVM integrates the Bitcoin SPV node network with the Aura+Grandpa consensus mechanism, ensuring the security and reliability of the second layer network.

Comparison with Other BTC Layer2 Solutions

Compared to the Mezo project based on the tBTC protocol, Taproot Consensus adopts a more advanced design. Mezo still relies on a 9-person multi-signature network, while Taproot Consensus builds a highly consistent and secure decentralized Layer2 scaling solution by combining Schnorr signatures, MAST, Bitcoin SPV light nodes, and the BFT PoS consensus mechanism.

Conclusion

The BEVM team's Taproot Consensus solution showcases a second-layer solution built entirely on Bitcoin's native technology. It not only inherits the technological philosophy of Bitcoin but also innovatively combines various Bitcoin technologies, truly becoming the culmination of Bitcoin's native scaling technology. As the Bitcoin ecosystem continues to develop, this truly decentralized second-layer solution will play an increasingly important role in the future.