OP_CAT is a proposed Bitcoin upgrade, aiming to bring Ethereum-like smart contract capabilities to the world’s oldest and largest blockchain network.
While OP_CAT certainly has no shortage of supporters, it is still in the very early stages when it comes to gaining the consensus needed to be merged with Bitcoin’s core software.
Layer-2 developer StarkWare, the main builder behind the Starknet network on top of Ethereum, has provided a glimpse of what could be possible on the Bitcoin blockchain if a pending technical proposal known as OP_CAT were adopted.
By working on Bitcoin’s test environment, known as Signet, and using OP_CAT, StarkWare says it has demonstrated how zero-knowledge proofs – an increasingly popular form of cryptography used to compress data or test the validity of statements without offering information that could compromise privacy – are run on the oldest and original blockchain.
The goal of the project was to demonstrate the capabilities of OP_CAT, a proposed Bitcoin upgrade – tipped to provide Ethereum-style “smart contracts” programmability, which was historically and famously missing from the blockchain designed by Satoshi Nakamoto as a peer to-peer payment system .
While OP_CAT certainly has no shortage of supporters, it is still in the very early stages when it comes to gaining the consensus needed to be merged with Bitcoin’s core software.
“StarkWare publicly defends the approval of the proposal due to the clear benefits it brings to the Bitcoin community and the broader blockchain ecosystem,” the company said in a press release.
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