{"id":9795,"date":"2023-03-24T05:43:56","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T05:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/?p=9795"},"modified":"2022-05-16T20:26:22","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T20:26:22","slug":"what-is-rsk-rootstock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-rsk-rootstock","title":{"rendered":"What is RSK? (Rootstock)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Alternar tabla de contenidos\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-rsk-rootstock\/#the_vision_of_the_sidechains\" >The vision of the sidechains<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-rsk-rootstock\/#the_rsk_blockchain\" >The RSK blockchain<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-rsk-rootstock\/#block_production_mining\" >Block production (mining)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-rsk-rootstock\/#the_bridge_between_bitcoin_and_rsk\" >The bridge between Bitcoin and RSK<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-rsk-rootstock\/#adoption_and_future\" >Adoption and future<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Tiempo de lectura:<\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutos<\/span><\/span><p><strong>RSK or Rootstock\u00a0<\/strong>is a\u00a0<strong>smart contract platform for Bitcoin<\/strong>. Among the developers (most of them Latin American) is Sergio Demian Lerner, a recognized security expert who has confused 7 tech companies and has collaborated to strengthen the security of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-bitcoin-core\/\">Bitcoin Core<\/a>\u00a0by discovering and reporting 9 vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n<p>RSK\u2019s native currency is<strong>\u00a0RBTC<\/strong>\u00a0(smart bitcoin) and maintains a 1:1 parity with bitcoin thanks to the use of a \u201c<strong>bridge<\/strong>\u201d or \u201c<strong>two way peg<\/strong>\u201d mechanism between the two blockchains.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In this article we are going to explain the features of RSK and its bridge to Bitcoin. But first let\u2019s see some context about sidechains.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"the_vision_of_the_sidechains\"><\/span><strong>The vision of the sidechains<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In 2014 a group of well-known Bitcoin researchers and developers published a paper in which they put forward the idea of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-a-sidechain\/\">sidechain<\/a>. A Bitcoin sidechain would be another blockchain where the native currency is also bitcoin.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to a mechanism, a user could move bitcoin from the Bitcoin blockchain to a sidechain and, whenever they wanted, send it back to the main Bitcoin blockchain. This would allow for endless\u00a0<strong>innovation<\/strong>\u00a0as bitcoin could be used on blockchains such as Ethereum, Monero or Zcash, and would absorb any\u00a0<strong>utility<\/strong>\u00a0from other currencies.<\/p>\n<p>But there is a big problem. Bitcoin\u2019s design does not allow for the construction of this mechanism. Bitcoin would have to know when a user wants to transfer their coins to the main network, and<strong>\u00a0the Bitcoin language does not allow this<\/strong>\u00a0(for good reason since its simplicity is a security feature).<\/p>\n<p>However, developers are working to make this vision a reality. On the one hand with proposals to\u00a0<strong>change Bitcoin<\/strong>\u00a0(drivechains, simplicity) and on the other hand with<strong>\u00a0federated systems<\/strong>\u00a0(RSK, Liquid).<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"the_rsk_blockchain\"><\/span><strong>The RSK blockchain<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>RSK is a sidechain of the Bitcoin blockchain but with similarities to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-ethereum-eth-and-how-does-it-work\/\">Ethereum<\/a>. It is a \u201c<strong>Turing complete<\/strong>\u201d system and the Rootstock Virtual Machine (RVM) is almost identical to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-the-ethereum-virtual-machine\/\">Ethereum Virtual Machine<\/a>\u00a0(EVM). Therefore\u00a0<strong>any contract in Ethereum is portable to RSK<\/strong>\u00a0and can be programmed in\u00a0<strong>Solidity<\/strong>, the industry standard language for smart contracts and decentralized applications.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, RSK has made a series of\u00a0<strong>optimizations<\/strong>\u00a0to have a more efficient blockchain without excessively increasing the cost of operating a complete node (a computer to verify all transactions).<\/p>\n<p>Any scalability system for Ethereum, such as\u00a0<strong>rollups<\/strong>\u00a0and advanced versions of\u00a0<strong>Lightning Network<\/strong>, is possible in RSK. And the average time for each\u00a0<strong>block is 30 seconds<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"block_production_mining\"><\/span><b>Block production (mining)<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Unlike Liquid Network\u2019s sidechain, for example, block creation and transaction processing is not done with a federation. RSK uses\u00a0<strong>merged mining<\/strong>, a more decentralized solution.<\/p>\n<p>In merged mining,\u00a0<strong>Bitcoin miners<\/strong>\u00a0themselves mine the secondary network, in this case RSK.\u00a0<strong>Because the miners send a proof of work every 30 seconds<\/strong>\u00a0to demonstrate their work to the mining pools, they can also send it to the RSK network (hence a block is produced every 30 seconds).<\/p>\n<p>In this way a Bitcoin miner can additionally earn\u00a0<strong>commissions from RSK<\/strong>\u00a0transactions and, in fact, a large portion of miners do so.<\/p>\n<div id=\"image_2125849909\" class=\"img has-hover x md-x lg-x y md-y lg-y\">\n<div class=\"img-inner dark\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-large size-large lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-RSK2.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-RSK2.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-RSK2-300x205.jpg 300w\" alt=\"Qu\u00e9 es RSK?\" width=\"768\" height=\"526\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-RSK2.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-RSK2-300x205.jpg 300w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-RSK2.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"the_bridge_between_bitcoin_and_rsk\"><\/span>The bridge between Bitcoin and RSK<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>As we have explained, the Bitcoin blockchain itself cannot operate a bridge. So there is currently no choice but to use a\u00a0<strong>federation,<\/strong>\u00a0that is, a group of people who keep your bitcoin on the main network while you use the sidechain and who promise to return it when you require it.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of trust, this is<strong>\u00a0better than a centralized exchange<\/strong>. There is no central entity with control of the funds but to use bitcoin requires the authorization of a majority within the individuals of the federation.<\/p>\n<p>This is Liquid\u2019s model and was also RSK\u2019s at first, but they decided to make a modification for safety. The new bridge mechanism was called\u00a0<strong>powpeg.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the powpeg bridge, federation members use devices known as \u201c<strong>hardware security modules<\/strong>\u201d (HSMs) to store the\u00a0<strong>private keys<\/strong>\u00a0that control the locked bitcoin. The HSMs\u00a0<strong>do not show the keys<\/strong>\u00a0to anyone, are tamper proof and\u00a0<strong>sign<\/strong>\u00a0bitcoin return transactions\u00a0<strong>autonomously<\/strong>. In other words, federation members cannot agree to steal the bitcoin, in the worst case they can only disconnect the HSMs preventing bitcoin recovery. As long as this does not happen, 1 RBTC can be exchanged for 1 BTC using the bridge.<\/p>\n<div id=\"image_800423793\" class=\"img has-hover x md-x lg-x y md-y lg-y\">\n<div class=\"img-inner dark\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-large size-large lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-RSK1.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-RSK1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-RSK1-300x205.jpg 300w\" alt=\"Qu\u00e9 es RSK?\" width=\"768\" height=\"526\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-RSK1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-RSK1-300x205.jpg 300w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-RSK1.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"adoption_and_future\"><\/span>Adoption and future<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>As we have seen RSK is a very promising platform for Bitcoin that has tried to optimize for the highest possible security using bitcoin as a native currency. It has major projects like\u00a0<strong>Sovryn and Money on Chain<\/strong>, has over 1,500 RBTC and can scale as much as Ethereum. If RSK is a layer 2 of bitcoin, layer 3 will be developed with\u00a0<strong>RIF<\/strong>\u00a0on top of RSK.<\/p>\n<p>But perhaps the biggest\u00a0<strong>breakthrough<\/strong>\u00a0will be to modify Bitcoin so that RSK can get rid of reliance on the\u00a0<strong>bridge federation<\/strong>\u00a0and fulfill a dream of many bitcoiners for years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Tiempo de lectura:<\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutos<\/span><\/span>RSK or Rootstock\u00a0is a\u00a0smart contract platform for Bitcoin. Among the developers (most of them Latin American) is Sergio Demian Lerner, a recognized security expert who has confused 7 tech companies and has collaborated to strengthen the security of\u00a0Bitcoin Core\u00a0by discovering and reporting 9 vulnerabilities. RSK\u2019s native currency is\u00a0RBTC\u00a0(smart bitcoin) and maintains a 1:1 parity with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criptomonedas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}