Announcing BOB: A new Bitcoin Layer-2 Stack
What is BOB?
BOB (“Build on Bitcoin”) a new Bitcoin layer 2 stack, featuring Rust smart contracts compatible with Bitcoin libraries such as Lightning and Ordinals. Combined with full support of the Ethereum Virtual Machine, BOB is the best place to innovate, experiment and build novel decentralized applications on top of Bitcoin’s stack.
Apart from Rust and EVM smart contracts, the first MVP of BOB already boasts a trustless BTC bridge and a built-in Bitcoin light client that cryptographically verifies the main chain, allowing teams to create trustless BTC, Ordinals and BRC swaps, as well as other BTC primitives such as hashrate markets.
Why BOB?
State of the industry
Bitcoin is experiencing a long-overdue renaissance. Our goal is to enable builders to create truly decentralized applications and innovate on top of Bitcoin’s existing stack, including Lightning, Ordinals and Nostr. BOB will be the catalyst for the Bitcoin building renaissance.
Our vision
Rollups are likely the best shot at ensuring long-term value accrual to Bitcoin, improving economic sustainability of the protocol even after future halving events and by extension, we consider ZK rollups currently being the best bet for such architecture, however we’re building BOB to support whatever cryptographic primitives find their way into Bitcoin.
BOB is a space for builders looking to innovate & build on Bitcoin with a view to democratise access to the advantages of the Bitcoin ecosystem & unlock novel use-cases. Bitcoin being the defensive layer for the entire Web3 ecosystem, BOB is here to not weaken it but to expand them in a focused direction & BOB is a manifestation of those efforts.
Builder Values
BOB encompasses a set of core values enabling builders to innovate on Bitcoin.
- Experimentation: BOB will pioneer across all fields of bitcoin innovation & experimentation — Technology (rollups, ZK, AI, …), art (NFTs, …), Organization (DAOs), and Entertainment (social, …). BOB will never be closed off to specific areas but instead foster a diverse space of innovators.
- Real-world impact: The innovations made must have an improvement for people by giving them access to Bitcoin values. BOB is an enabler to bring the BTC advantages to new and existing use cases.
- Freedom of choice: Projects deployed on BOB should also be able to deploy on other rollups and chains. Builders should focus on the unique values of the product without having to worry about platform risk of BOB.
Early Alpha
BOB is just getting started with plenty of new things remaining to be built, researched, and experimented with. Our first MVP is out, and you can check out the early Alpha here https://docs.gobob.xyz/docs/build — and for a deeper dive, visit the newly launched BOB website at: https://www.gobob.xyz
Future roadmap
At BOB we’re developing novel ways to trustlessly bridge between Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the multi-chain ecosystem. Whether Bitcoin for DeFi, swapping Ordinals for USDC, or bringing decentralized stablecoins onto Lightning — BOB has got you covered, powered by cryptography and game theory.
The full-release schedule will introduce interoperability with Ethereum, trustless BTC peg protocols, and Bitcoin rollup mechanics.
Stay updated
If you’re interested in connecting with Bitcoin builders, don’t miss joining our Discord and heading straight to the BOB channels: https://discordapp.com/invite/interlay
Would you like to stay updated? Follow our official BOB Twitter: BOB | Build On Bitcoin
BOB Website: https://gobob.xyz
