Bitcoin DApps, or Decentralized Applications on Bitcoin, are applications that operate on blockchains powered by Bitcoin, utilizing its fundamental features. Unlike the early days where Ethereum was the primary platform for DApps, developers are increasingly exploring Bitcoin for this purpose. These applications typically deploy their smart contracts on scaling solutions, sidechains, or parallel blockchains to Bitcoin’s mainnet.
The expansion into Bitcoin DApps has been facilitated by various technological advancements, including layer-2 scaling solutions like the Lightning Network, sidechains such as RSK (Rootstock Network), and smart contract layers like Stacks. These innovations enable developers to harness Bitcoin’s renowned privacy, security, and liquidity features.
For example, RSK offers a smart contract solution with merged-mining security, compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), allowing for easy migration of Solidity smart contracts to the Bitcoin ecosystem. Stacks, with its Proof of Transfer (PoX) consensus mechanism, connects directly to Bitcoin’s main chain, enabling the development of smart contracts and DApps that leverage Bitcoin’s stability and security.