Black cat, white cat, the premise is that you really have to be a cat The Vertical Line is a temporary band formed by Luo Dayou, Li Zongsheng, Zhou Huajian and Zhang Zhenyue in 2008, and they have a song called "Outlaws", which I really like. When I was young, I didn't know what I liked, maybe it was the word outlaw, and I thought it was cool. As I got older, I began to understand the meaning of the lyrics. Let's dive in! ⬇️ “ When the car rumbles, the dream begins to ache, it rolls up the wind, re-sculpts every face The night fog is so thick and open and turbulent, and there is a premonition that the end of the road is a labyrinth ” That's all I feel about the Bitcoin ecosystem today. A round of BTC Layer 2 and a round of BTCFi, interspersed with inscriptions, runes, and Ordinals NFTs, we used to be really lively and have always dominated the headlines. However, after BTC hit an all-time high, ETF traditional capital flocked to it, and Bitcoin ecological projects were issued one after another, the entire industry fell into nothingness and silence? Feed the sheep? You don't really make up so many stories and make up so many terms just to issue coins, and then you will be a yacht and a young model, leaving me waiting for the high-speed train at the beach, right? No, no. So I started to reorganize the Bitcoin ecosystem project and the team's dynamic tracking in @RootDataCrypto. When I sifted through Bitcoin Ecology - Layer 2 - Single Chain, guess how many results there are? The answer is 77. That is, there are 77 Bitcoin Layer 2 single chains, of which 15 are marked as soon and 4 are on the testnet. Rootdata has a funny thing, each project will have a sentence description, and I laughed out loud here: each project has its own definition and understanding of BTC Layer 2, and I even saw BTC Layer 2.5...... Here is another topic that has been debated for many years: how to define BTC Layer 2? Today, BTC Layer 2 is closer to a marketing term, black cat and white cat, and if you catch a mouse, you are a good cat. But, you have to be a cat, right? The real situation now is that there is no definition of what a cat is. With questions, one project at a time, I wanted to write an article about the BTC Layer 2 I understand in my eyes, okay, someone has written it, and it is very awesome, this person is Kein @kevinliub, the core contributor of GOAT Network @GOATRollup. Kevin wrote an article, "Benchmark Proposal for Bitcoin's Native Layer 2: Establishing Community Standards for Authenticity and Trust." When I first saw it, I thought he was teaching me how to do things and set standards for the industry, but he wasn't. He was sincere and objective, rational and restrained, and actually sent an invitation letter to the industry, suggesting that everyone form a consensus and slowly approach the standard, the main purpose of which is for the subsequent collaborative development. Even so, he was careful to divide the proposal into Core Must-Haves and Nice-to-Haves: Core must-haves ▰ Trustless settlement on Bitcoin Mainnet ▰ Dispute resolution must be anchored to the Bitcoin mainnet ▰ Forced opt-out mechanism without third-party permission ▰ Proof-based trust-minimization bridging mechanism ▰ Continued linearity and resilience Optional enhancements ▰ Fast and efficient exit mechanism ▰ Gas mechanism denominated in native BTC ▰ Financial incentives for honest behavior As a popular science writer, I believe that this proposal is not only a technical blueprint, but also a reaffirmation of the values of the Bitcoin community. It reminds us that Bitcoin's scaling layer should not just be a technical stack, but should carry the decentralized spirit of Bitcoin and become a bridge between traditional finance and DeFi. Broadly speaking, the proposal attempts to correct terminology abuse and trust dilution in the current L2 ecosystem by returning to Bitcoin's trustless and decentralized spirit, while providing directions for technological innovation and community collaboration. GOAT Network, as a practitioner of the proposal, has demonstrated the feasibility and potential of these standards through innovations such as BitVM2, decentralized Sequencer, and sustainable yield models. The GOAT BitVM2 testnet has just been launched, which should be regarded as the first real Bitcoin native ZK Rollup project, I see on Rootdata they describe it as a "sustainable BTC yield network", and it can be said that if everything is perfectly realized, then Bitcoin will enter a new stage of "verifiable, secure, and real returns". Implementing Layer 2 computational verification and asset settlement on the Bitcoin mainnet can summarize the goals and highlights of GOAT BitVM2 in one sentence. So how exactly is this achieved? Verifiability GOAT Network requires L2 state to be anchored to the Bitcoin mainnet every block or every few hours, using zero-knowledge proofs (ZK Proofs) to ensure transparency and verifiability of the state, and avoiding relying only on Merkle root or multisig signatures. If there is fraud, you can challenge directly on the mainnet, ensuring that Bitcoin miner verification is being operated, rather than an off-chain intermediary. security The developer of GOAT Network is ZKM, and another typical case of ZKM is @MetisL2, so decentralized Sequencer naturally emerged, combined with a double penalty mechanism, non-custodial bridging, and the exit channel remains open even if all points fail. , the user can unilaterally exit at any time. Real earnings Staking BTC and Dogecoin, you can get incentives for being honest, and your assets will be cut if you do evil, BTC exists as a native gas, maintaining ecological consistency, and can support various DeFi applications, which can provide BTC holders with more extended financial services. // “ Truth is only a decoration in a dark room until the absurdity is proven It is only when the eyes are lit up that there is a chance to show its value It's not up to anyone to decide ” This is how the ending of "Outlaw" is sung. Indeed, Kevin's proposal gives all developers and users of the Bitcoin ecosystem a topic to discuss, and I am happy to see all kinds of arguments and criticisms, which is what the Bitcoin ecosystem should be. But don't stop arguing, make bold assumptions and be careful to verify, GOAT Network may give the industry a sample, let's wait and see. This is a softcore popular science, through this article you can know a little about the following knowledge: ▰ Bitcoin ecological dilemma ▰ Bitcoin Layer 2 Standard Initiative ▰ Outlaws are nice to listen to (it's not.) Author: anymose | A softcore popular science writer <全文完>