Citrea, a project that seeks to expand the utility and scalability of Bitcoin, announced the launch of its testnet (testnet) on the Bitcoin Testnet4. This phase will allow testing the integration of Citrea functionalities in a secure environment without using the Bitcoin (BTC) mainnet.
Citrea seeks to be the first ZK rollup built on Bitcoin. A rollup It is a second layer (L2) network that aims to improve the scalability and performance of a main chain (in this case Bitcoin) and allows transactions to be processed outside of that main network, using it only as a transaction settlement layer.
The acronym “ZK” refers to the use of Zero Knowledge technology, or in English ““Zero Knowledge”to verify the validity of transactions without revealing sensitive information about them, such as the identity of those who carry out these operations, for example.
The testnet is a version of a network that is used for testing and experimentation without affecting the main network (mainnet). In this way, the testnet from Citrea It was designed to allow developers to publicly test the Bitcoin network as a settlement layer and enable the creation of decentralized applications (dApps).
Citrea has developed a trust-reduced bridge based on BitVM. This bridge, called Clementine, It is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which allows developers to use Ethereum tools and languages, such as Solidity or Vyper, to execute smart contracts. This means that smart contracts that run on Ethereum can be deployed on Citrea without any modifications.
A trust-minimized bridge means that transactions and exchanges between different networks are done without the need to rely entirely on one central entity for the validation of such transactions.
Once smart contracts are executed through BitVM’s Clementine bridge, transactions are settled in Bitcoin. This takes advantage of Bitcoin’s security and decentralization, while utilizing the flexibility and functionality of the EVM.
Since October 2023, when developer Robin Linus disclosed the BitVM protocol, an enthusiastic environment has arisen around this alternative.
Thus, the launch of the Citrea project in February 2024, reported by CriptoNoticias, and the announcement known today about its testnet, Citrea is positioned as a step forward for the implementation of BitVM and thus expand the infrastructure of the Bitcoin mainnet.
