Builder: Stu
Language(s): Rust
Contributes To: CTV Prototypes, Char Community
Work(s/ed) At: ZBD
Earlier than Bitcoin, Stu spent his days working as a Home windows System Administrator and in IT Assist. His routine consisted of lengthy boring days of sitting in a chair partaking in monotonous upkeep work, reconfiguring methods, and resetting passwords for customers who’d forgotten them.
It was the sort of job the place an issue occurring that truly requires you to have interaction your consideration in a significant approach is so uncommon an incidence that you simply wind up sitting round hoping for one thing like that to occur more often than not.
Stu spent most days simply shopping via Reddit threads throughout his copious quantities of downtime. However this turned out to not be such a nasty state of affairs ultimately, as this was how Stu discovered himself pulled into the Bitcoin area round 2017.
Like many Bitcoiners, or relatively soon-to-be Bitcoiners, again in that interval, Stu obtained sucked into the Preliminary Coin Providing (ICO) and altcoin frenzy of the time. Additionally, like many Bitcoiners round that point, he wound up getting burned financially by some dangerous investments in random unknown initiatives during which he in all probability shouldn’t have invested within the first place.
Inevitably the gravity of Bitcoin pulled him down the proverbial rabbit gap.
After just a few years of studying extra deeply about Bitcoin, Stu hit a interval of frenzy and stop his job on the peak of the 2021 bull market to search for alternatives to work within the Bitcoin area. By that point the programming language Rust had turn into broadly utilized in completely different Bitcoin initiatives and libraries, so Stu started studying it in order that he might contribute to Bitcoin.
In the direction of the top of 2022, his seek for a job within the area ended when he was employed by Michael Tildwell to work at ZBD, an organization that integrates bitcoin funds into videogames utilizing the Lightning Community.
Working At ZBD
Stu labored DevOps at ZBD, however in his free time he stored working at prototype Rust initiatives.
“Most of my facet initiatives are associated to what I used to be considering on the time, as I used to be working at ZBD I began making video games that might use bitcoin,” Stu informed Bitcoin Journal.
To begin, he constructed a multiplayer net sport, rain.run, based mostly round gamers gathering lightning bolts for rewards in satoshis, to get extra accustomed to constructing functions which have to speak to one another over a community. Afterwards he constructed a easy connect4 sport performed over the Nostr protocol.
“[This] was a good way to learn the way Nostr labored,” stated Stu.
“I attended btc++ in Austin in 2024, which was the Script version.” The 4 day convention was probably the most dense discussion board for dialogue round Bitcoin script enhancements and covenants within the final 12 months or so.
“There gave the impression to be, on the time, some sort of consensus creating for covenants on Bitcoin,” recalled Stu.
“This obtained me actually considering how Bitcoin script labored and [led] me to experimenting with Taproot and Bitcoin scripts…” he added.
“I didn’t actually find yourself with a lot but it surely was a good way to learn the way scripts labored.”
TABConf, Cost Swimming pools, and CTV
In 2024, Stu attended TABConf, one other developer-focused convention, which is held yearly in Atlanta, Georgia. The conversations in Atlanta additionally revolved closely round covenants.
Like all developer-focused conferences, TABConf placed on a hackathon. Stu selected to construct a mission utilizing Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs), which enabled customers to wager on the result of chess matches. It turned very apparent to Stu that constructing software program round pre-signing giant numbers of transactions launched plenty of complexity for builders.
Discussing this subject, he stated: “The reply to this drawback gave the impression to be CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (CTV). As I needed to study extra about covenants, CTV appeared like place to begin, so I began integrating CTV into my DLC chess mission. I couldn’t consider how easy it made every thing…”
Stu went on to construct a proof-of-concept prototype of a Cost Pool utilizing CTV. Cost swimming pools are a really primary layer 2 system the place teams of bigger than two share management over a single unspent bitcoin output.
“A technique we are able to scale bitcoin for use by everybody, with out utilizing centralized third events, is for customers to share UTXO’s,” he stated when requested why he selected to work on a proof-of-concept for a cost pool. “Cost swimming pools are a good way to do that, particularly alongside different layer 2 options akin to Lightning or Ark.”
Covenants
Covenants have turn into a contentious subject within the dialogue about the place to take Bitcoin going ahead. Each developer has their private opinion on them, and Stu is not any exception.
“I feel utilizing covenants to interchange pre-signed transactions alone is an incredible enchancment for builders to construct quicker and safer,” he stated. “It removes plenty of interactivity and friction for customers, so there’s much less want for them to be on-line or coordinate with different events, which might enhance the person expertise by a fantastic deal.”
I requested him if that is what drew him to constructing proof-of-concepts and prototypes utilizing CTV versus different covenant proposals.
“I used to be drawn to CTV as a result of it was so easy to implement within the functions I needed to construct. As soon as I constructed the cost pool with CTV, I used to be planning on doing the identical for all covenant proposals. I discovered the best way to get the very same performance with CAT, but it surely simply took a really very long time to get working, and added far more code. The Bitcoin script was like 50 traces of code, in comparison with CTV with like 3 traces.”
“I’m fairly certain there’s consensus between protocol builders that there isn’t a threat to Bitcoin if we enabled CTV…” he stated. “…so the argument now appears to be that the customers don’t need it. However the customers are already utilizing functions and protocols akin to Lightning and multisig vaults that may be improved by CTV. So…I feel it ought to be the precedence for the following mushy fork…”
When requested concerning the present contentious nature of the dialogue round covenants and the following mushy fork, and the way the ambiance could possibly be improved, he had this to say:
“Somebody must get Saylor to tweet a sandwich emoji and every thing will probably be good.”
“However significantly, I don’t actually know. Possibly extra in particular person occasions the place individuals can focus on nose to nose would assist. It doesn’t appear to be a lot of a technical cause that we aren’t making progress, extra of a political one,” he went on to say in a extra severe tone.
“I feel among the hesitance is extra round making any change in any respect to Bitcoin. The explanation it’s so arduous to vary is an incredible property of Bitcoin, but it surely doesn’t have to increase to mushy forks fairly a lot. It causes plenty of stress for sure Bitcoin builders, particularly Bitcoin Core maintainers. Everyone seems to be ready on their opinion on the following fork, which appears to make them hesitant on becoming a member of within the dialog in any respect, which makes it arduous to get consensus on any new change,” he stated.
The Future
Stu just lately participated within the Bitcoin Open Supply Software program (BOSS) program by Chaincode Labs, a program designed as a approach for builders new to the Bitcoin ecosystem to chop their enamel and rapidly develop a deeper understanding of and expertise with constructing on Bitcoin.
Going ahead Stu goes to contribute to the Char Community, a considerably off the radar effort to construct a brand new bitcoin staking platform led by Jeremy Rubin, the developer who designed and proposed CTV. He plans to proceed engaged on his private facet initiatives and contributing to open supply initiatives as nicely, with the eventual aim of beginning to contribute to Bitcoin Core itself.
Stu had this to say about Bitcoiners’ priorities going into the long run:
“Our primary focus ought to be on making self custody higher. It actually sucks proper now, and I feel extra Bitcoiners generally must admit that. Backing up 12 phrases does sound easy, but it surely actually isn’t that straightforward, and nobody is doing it.”