StarkWare Proposes ColliderVM to Enhance Bitcoin’s Layer-2 Capabilities

Bitcoin’s native scripting environment is stateless, limiting its complexity. StarkWare's ColliderVM aims to introduce stateful computation for Bitcoin, allowing complex transactions without requiring a soft fork.

Key points about ColliderVM:

Enables validation of complex computations across transactions.
More efficient than ColliderScript, claimed to be "at least x10,000 more efficient."
Avoids fraud proofs central to BitVM2, allowing direct verification on Bitcoin.
Costs estimated at $40 million per transaction due to high hash rate requirements.
Not yet financially viable but shows promise for developers seeking simplicity.

Alternative approaches like PIPES are also being explored. PIPES is described as simpler and potentially less costly but remains theoretical.

Both ColliderVM and PIPES highlight a user demand for covenant-like behavior in Bitcoin. The future direction for Bitcoin L2 solutions remains uncertain as developments continue.