How do APRO Oracle and Polyhedra join forces to ignite the Bitcoin ecosystem?

Author: Sawyer (APRO Oracle); Polyhedra

Introduction

In the development of cryptographic technology, oracle and zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technologies are empowering the evolution of the entire underlying ecosystem in astonishing ways. APRO Oracle, as a dark horse in the decentralized oracle network project, provides accurate, reliable, secure, efficient, and customizable data services. It currently focuses on the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem and has become the first oracle project to support the Runes Protocol. Polyhedra Network, since its inception in 2022, has grown from the industry's first cross-chain interoperability protocol built using ZKP technology into a full-stack Web3 infrastructure development protocol based on ZKP technology.

Today, let us open a chapter of this captivating story together, delving into the importance and impact of oracle and zero-knowledge proof technologies in the Bitcoin ecosystem, and exploring how APRO Oracle and Polyhedra are creating new opportunities for the Bitcoin ecosystem with their powerful innovative forces and strategic cooperation.

The Wonderful Combination of Oracles and the Bitcoin Ecosystem

As the leader of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin's ecosystem faces many limitations, including the difficulty of obtaining data on the blockchain, limited smart contract functionality, and reliance on external information. Oracles can provide external data for Bitcoin smart contracts, enabling DApps to interact with the real world and achieve broader functionalities and application scenarios. By providing verifiable external data, they enhance the credibility of Bitcoin smart contracts, thereby promoting the formation of more commercial applications and partnerships.

With the rapid rise of technologies such as inscriptions, runes, and BTCL2, the demand for oracles in Bitcoin ecosystem projects is continuously increasing, presenting new challenges for the early-stage Bitcoin ecosystem—specifically, the lack of oracle services designed to meet the needs of Bitcoin ecosystem projects.

In this context, APRO Oracle was born. As a decentralized oracle network specifically designed for the Bitcoin ecosystem, APRO Oracle integrates off-chain computation, on-chain verification, and self-managed multi-signature mechanisms, aiming to provide highly secure and accurate data services for Bitcoin ecosystem projects.

Its BTC-native characteristics allow it to deeply integrate with the Bitcoin ecosystem, bringing new personalized solutions to Bitcoin ecosystem projects. Moreover, APRO Oracle fully leverages the synergy between off-chain computation and on-chain verification at the technical level. Through off-chain computation, it expands computational capacity and data access, enabling it to directly obtain Bitcoin-native data and achieve close links with mainstream Bitcoin ecosystem projects. Additionally, the introduction of APRO Oracle's self-managed multi-signature mechanism and tamper-proof mechanisms further ensures its stable and secure operation within the Bitcoin ecosystem.

At the same time, APRO Oracle is genuinely addressing the gaps in the Bitcoin ecosystem, continuously promoting product development and innovation. For example, it launched the first price feed service for Taproot Assets in collaboration with its ecosystem partner Lnfi Network, targeting the Lightning Network; and it introduced the first truly UTXO Stack-based price oracle for Bitcoin Layer 1 in partnership with Nervos CKB.

APRO Oracle and Nervos CKB's Bitcoin-native oracle

To better co-build the Bitcoin ecosystem, APRO Oracle's customized solutions can meet the unique needs of different projects in terms of security, efficiency, and compatibility. In less than six months of development, APRO Oracle has completed integrations with over 15 public chains, covering both mainstream and emerging blockchain networks. Furthermore, APRO Oracle's oracle services currently support over 100 data feeds, providing strong support for BTC DeFi. Through close collaboration with partners, APRO Oracle is committed to jointly promoting the prosperous development of the Bitcoin ecosystem, truly achieving comprehensive coverage and support for oracle services within the Bitcoin ecosystem.

The Evolution of ZKP Technology and Cross-Chain Bridge Exploration

The zkBridge operated by Polyhedra Network is the industry's first trustless, efficient, secure, and universal cross-chain interoperability protocol built using zero-knowledge proof technology, officially launched in April 2023. Unlike the commonly used cross-chain bridges that rely on multi-signature contracts, zkBridge employs zero-knowledge proof algorithms to replace the traditional third-party trust assumptions of cross-chain bridges, rigorously proving and verifying based on mathematics and cryptography, allowing the prover to securely and effectively communicate a state transition that occurred on the sending chain to the receiving link without relying on any external security assumptions. zkBridge now covers nearly 30 Layer 1 and Layer 2 chains.

As existing business lines mature, Polyhedra Network has begun to turn its attention to other areas, leveraging its advantages in zero-knowledge proof technology to bring more innovative results, with the increasingly high market attention on the Bitcoin ecosystem becoming a new target for Polyhedra Network.

In April 2024, the team launched a lightweight Bitcoin Token Swap Protocol, achieving completely trustless Bitcoin cross-chain swaps. Unlike traditional methods, this solution overcomes the limitations of the Bitcoin network's lack of native smart contract support and the inability to directly confirm transactions from networks like Ethereum. The cross-chain Bitcoin token swap protocol has broad applications, allowing Bitcoin Layer 2 or sidechains to securely extract BTC tokens to the Bitcoin network in a completely trustless manner. This lightweight Bitcoin token swap protocol has already supported multiple Bitcoin ecosystem projects, including BounceBit and Bitlayer.

Step-by-step Overview of the Bitcoin Token Swap Protocol

The Value Connection Between APRO Oracle and Polyhedra

• 1. Security:

APRO Oracle employs Distributed Key Generation (DKG) and Threshold Signature Scheme (TSS) technologies to ensure the decentralization and censorship resistance of data. Polyhedra utilizes zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology to verify the correctness of data without exposing the original data. The deep integration of both parties in the field of cryptographic security can provide stronger tamper-proof and replay protection for cross-chain data, achieving end-to-end security and trust.

• 2. Cross-chain Interoperability:

APRO Oracle can provide data feed services for various heterogeneous blockchains. Polyhedra focuses on building ZKP-based cross-chain protocols to achieve seamless message passing and state synchronization between different chains. APRO Oracle can utilize Polyhedra's cross-chain channels to securely input external data into the blockchain networks it supports. Conversely, Polyhedra can obtain high-quality off-chain data through APRO, expanding the data sources for cross-chain applications.

• 3. Data Transmission and Verification:

APRO Oracle is not just a data provider; it can also implement on-chain computation and verification of data within smart contracts. Polyhedra's ZKP technology can verify the integrity and consistency of cross-chain data, preventing data from being tampered with during transmission. The collaboration between both parties can significantly enhance the reliability and availability of data services.

• 4. Privacy Protection:

APRO Oracle and Polyhedra share a common pursuit of data privacy. APRO Oracle supports off-chain data aggregation and computation, submitting only the final results on-chain to maximize the protection of original data privacy. Polyhedra utilizes ZKP technology to achieve data sharing and computation under privacy protection. Both parties can explore technological integration in areas such as privacy computing and distributed identity authentication, providing users with more comprehensive privacy protection solutions.

• 5. Smart Contract Integration:

APRO Oracle is an important complement to smart contracts, securely and reliably introducing various external data into smart contracts, unlocking more innovative application potential. Polyhedra provides a scalable smart contract platform based on ZKP, capable of supporting more complex cross-chain application logic. By providing trigger conditions for smart contracts on Polyhedra, APRO Oracle offers privacy protection and scalability support for its data services, seamlessly connecting the two, which is expected to give rise to more disruptive Web3 applications.

Oracles and ZKP Technology Shaping a New Era for the Bitcoin Ecosystem

With the approval of Bitcoin ETFs and significant events such as halving, market interest in Bitcoin has reached unprecedented heights. Recently, Polyhedra, leveraging its advanced ZKP technology, proposed a ZK proof based on FRI (Fast Reed-Solomon Interactive oracle proofs of proximity) as an alternative solution for the final layer of on-chain verification. This proposal is expected to address the shortcomings of current Layer 2 scaling solutions for the Bitcoin network, particularly the potential collusion between provers and challengers, thereby achieving general programmability on the Bitcoin network and unlocking Bitcoin's potential. As an important member of the Bitcoin ecosystem, the addition of APRO Oracle is expected to provide more possibilities for the integration of oracles and full-stack ZK protocols.

1. Enhanced Security:

Traditional oracle solutions are vulnerable to security threats such as centralization failures, tampering, and malicious attacks. With the introduction of ZKP technology, oracles can prove the authenticity of data to the Bitcoin network without exposing the original data. This trustless security mechanism fundamentally enhances the tamper-proof capability of oracle data, reducing the occurrence of security incidents. Additionally, ZKP can also enable anonymous identity authentication for oracles, preventing oracle nodes from being tracked and attacked, further strengthening the security of the oracle infrastructure.

2. Improved Data Credibility:

The correct execution of smart contracts in the Bitcoin ecosystem highly relies on the accuracy of oracle data. Through ZKP technology, oracles can perform trustworthy computation and verification of data off-chain and submit the verification results on-chain. This verifiable data provision mechanism allows smart contracts to confidently use oracle data without worrying about data falsification issues. Furthermore, ZKP supports cross-validation of data between multiple oracles, further enhancing data credibility. Highly credible external data will greatly broaden the application scenarios of Bitcoin smart contracts, injecting new innovative vitality into the ecosystem.

3. Enhanced Cross-Chain Interoperability:

Currently, there are many barriers to data communication between Bitcoin and other blockchain networks, limiting the openness of the Bitcoin ecosystem. Introducing ZKP-supported cross-chain oracles can enable trustworthy data transmission between Bitcoin and other chains. Conversely, oracles on Bitcoin can also provide verified data to other chains, achieving cross-chain data sharing. This trustless cross-chain interoperability mechanism will break down the data silos in the Bitcoin ecosystem and promote the collaborative development of multi-chain ecosystems.

4. Enhanced Scalability:

The scalability bottleneck of the Bitcoin ecosystem restricts the further development of infrastructure such as oracles. ZKP, as a new scaling technology, can empower oracles from multiple dimensions. First, ZKP can transfer the verification work of oracle data from the main chain to off-chain, alleviating the computational pressure on the main chain. Second, ZKP supports merging multiple oracle requests into a single batch proof, improving the service efficiency of oracles. Additionally, some oracle solutions utilize ZKP to achieve permissionless Layer 2 networks, allowing for elastic scaling of oracle service capacity. A highly scalable oracle infrastructure will better support large-scale applications in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

In summary, the integration of oracles and ZKP technology will open a new chapter for the Bitcoin ecosystem across multiple dimensions. On one hand, ZKP enhances the security and data credibility of oracles, expanding the application boundaries of Bitcoin smart contracts. On the other hand, ZKP enables oracles to serve as a trusted bridge connecting Bitcoin with other blockchains, breaking down the barriers of ecosystem fragmentation, while also enhancing the scalability of oracles from multiple dimensions, providing strong technical support for the prosperous development of the Bitcoin ecosystem.

With the continuous emergence of new technologies and the ongoing evolution of the ecosystem, the collaboration between Polyhedra Network and APRO Oracle is expected to drive the Bitcoin ecosystem towards a brighter future.