Bitcoin Magazine
Covenants, CTV, and Streamlining Development for Programmers
Builder: Stu
Language(s): Rust
Contributes To: CTV Prototypes, Char Network
Formerly Employed At: ZBD
Prior to his entry into the world of Bitcoin, Stu was engaged as a Windows System Administrator and provided IT Support. His workdays were filled with the dull routine of maintaining systems, troubleshooting, and resetting passwords for forgetful users.
In reality, the frequency of any meaningful technical challenges was so infrequent that he often found himself wishing for something engaging to tackle during his long hours.
During his abundant downtime, Stu routinely scrolled through Reddit, which surprisingly led him to discover the Bitcoin universe around 2017.
Like many aspiring Bitcoin enthusiasts at that time, Stu became engrossed in the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) craze and the altcoin boom. Unfortunately, he, like numerous others, faced significant financial setbacks due to investments in obscure projects that may not have been wise choices.
However, the undeniable allure of Bitcoin eventually drew him deeper into its complexities.
After a few years of immersing himself in Bitcoin’s intricacies, Stu experienced a surge of excitement and decided to leave his job during the frenzied 2021 bull market, seeking avenues to immerse himself professionally in the Bitcoin landscape. By this period, the programming language Rust had gained traction throughout various Bitcoin initiatives and libraries, prompting Stu to learn it to make his own contributions.
In late 2022, his pursuit for a position within the Bitcoin realm culminated when he was recruited by Michael Tildwell to join ZBD, a company focused on incorporating Bitcoin transactions within video gaming utilizing the Lightning Network.
Engagement at ZBD
At ZBD, Stu took on a role in DevOps, yet he dedicated his spare hours to advancing prototype projects in Rust.
“My side initiatives generally aligned with my interests at the moment. While working at ZBD, I began developing games that integrated Bitcoin,” Stu shared with Bitcoin Magazine.
Initially, he created a multiplayer web game called rain.run, in which players gathered lightning bolts to earn rewards in satoshis. This project helped him gain experience in building networked applications. Subsequently, he developed a straightforward connect4 game utilizing the Nostr protocol.
“This was an excellent method to understand how Nostr operated,” he remarked.
In 2024, he attended btc++ in Austin, which was dedicated to discussions about Bitcoin scripting advancements and covenants. “During the event, there appeared to be a growing consensus regarding covenants and their implementation in Bitcoin,” Stu recollected.
“This piqued my interest in understanding Bitcoin scripting better, prompting experimental work with Taproot and Bitcoin scripts…” he expressed, highlighting the value of this learning experience despite yielding limited results.
TABConf, Payment Pools, and CTV
<pIn 2024, Stu participated in TABConf, another conference tailored for developers, held annually in Atlanta, Georgia. Discussions at this conference were heavily centered on covenants.
As is common in developer-centric conferences, TABConf hosted a hackathon. Stu opted to create a project leveraging Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs), allowing users to bet on chess match outcomes. It soon became apparent to him that developing software involving pre-signed transactions added unnecessary complexity for developers.
Reflecting on this challenge, he stated: “The solution appeared to be CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (CTV). Eager to learn more about covenants, I began integrating CTV into my DLC chess project. I was astounded by how straightforward it made the process…”
Stu subsequently developed a prototype for a Payment Pool utilizing CTV. Payment pools represent a fundamental layer 2 mechanism enabling multiple users to share control over a single unspent bitcoin output.
“One effective way to scale Bitcoin for widespread usage, without relying on centralized intermediaries, is for users to co-manage UTXOs,” he explained when asked about his motivation for creating a payment pool proof-of-concept. “Payment pools serve as an excellent method to accomplish this, especially in conjunction with other layer 2 solutions like Lightning or Ark.”
Understanding Covenants
Covenants have become a divisive topic in the ongoing dialogue about Bitcoin’s future direction. Each developer holds their viewpoint on the matter, and Stu is no exception.
“I believe utilizing covenants to replace pre-signed transactions is a remarkable enhancement that allows developers to create faster and safer solutions,” he explained. “It reduces much of the interaction and friction for users, resulting in fewer requirements for them to be online or coordinate with others, which significantly enhances the user experience.”
When asked whether this was the reason he focused on CTV for building proof-of-concepts over other covenant proposals, he stated, “I was attracted to CTV due to its implementation simplicity in the applications I wanted to create. After successfully building the payment pool with CTV, I aimed to apply the same approach to all covenant proposals. However, I discovered that achieving equivalent functionality with CAT took considerably more time and involved much more code. The Bitcoin script was around 50 lines, while CTV only required approximately 3 lines.”
“I’m fairly certain there’s consensus among protocol developers that enabling CTV poses no risk to Bitcoin…” he remarked. “The current debate seems to pivot around user resistance. However, users are already engaging with applications and protocols like Lightning and multisig vaults, which would be enhanced by CTV. Therefore… I believe prioritizing this for the next soft fork is essential.”
Addressing the ongoing contentious nature of the covenant discussion and future soft forks, he commented:
“Someone just needs to convince Saylor to tweet a sandwich emoji, and everything will be fine.”
“In all seriousness, I’m uncertain. Perhaps an increase in in-person events where people can engage directly would be beneficial. The stalling seems less about technical issues and more about politics,” he reflected.
“Much of the hesitation revolves around anything being altered in Bitcoin. While the difficulty of making changes is a commendable aspect of Bitcoin, it need not apply as stringently to soft forks. It induces pressure for certain Bitcoin developers, particularly Bitcoin Core maintainers. There’s a sense of anticipation around their views on the next fork, which can lead to reluctance in joining the conversation altogether, complicating consensus on new modifications,” he stated.
Looking Ahead
Recently, Stu was part of Chaincode Labs’ Bitcoin Open Source Software (BOSS) program, designed to aid developers who are newcomers to the Bitcoin environment in gaining experience and a deeper understanding of building with Bitcoin.
Moving forward, Stu plans to contribute to the Char Network, a relatively low-profile initiative led by Jeremy Rubin that aims to develop a new Bitcoin staking platform and the proponent of CTV. He intends to persist with his personal projects while supporting open-source initiatives, ultimately aspiring to contribute to Bitcoin Core itself.
Stu concluded with insights on Bitcoiners’ priorities in the future:
“Our primary focus must be on improving self-custody solutions. The current state is far from ideal, and I believe it’s time for Bitcoiners to acknowledge that. While backing up 12 words sounds straightforward, it’s not as easy as it seems, and very few people manage it effectively.”
This article Covenants, CTV, and Streamlining Development for Programmers originally appeared in Bitcoin Magazine, authored by Shinobi.
