In a recent interview with Bitcoin Magazine, Shinobi sat down with Willem Schroé of Botanix Labs to discuss the progress and vision of Spiderchains, an innovative scaling solution that will soon be publicly available: Despite other layering solutions such as BitVM and Rollup gaining traction, the team at Botanix has been steadily building the foundations of a decentralized network capable of supporting 10,000 nodes, leveraging a unique combination of multi-sig and proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanisms.
Design Brief
Schroé describes Spiderchains as a multisig decentralized network, conceptually similar to the Lightning Network but with a different architecture: “You start with the idea of a multisig, then you think bigger and bigger, and then you have one multisig, then an even bigger multisig, and then a frost multisig with 100 random members.”
This multi-sig decentralized network forms the backbone of Spiderchain, ensuring the security of assets deposited on the platform. Spiderchain uses the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) as its execution environment and secures the EVM using a novel PoS mechanism to enhance the security and decentralization of the network. This design aims to address issues common to other layer-2 solutions, especially those on Ethereum, which often suffer from centralization and security vulnerabilities. Spiderchain’s architecture prioritizes decentralization and security through its unique integration of multi-sig and PoS mechanisms.
Combining Proof of Stake and Proof of Work
Building a PoS consensus layer on top of Bitcoin’s Proof of Work (PoW) system addresses many of the problems inherent in a pure PoS system. Willem, a former “proof of work maximalist,” explained the benefits of this hybrid approach: Combining PoS and PoW also addresses security concerns around randomization and finality. This integration allows Spiderchain to inherit Bitcoin’s finality and further strengthen its security model.
SpiderChain uses Bitcoin’s block hash for randomization, ensuring a safe and reliable method of validator selection, enhancing the stability and security of the entire network. Schrow noted that this unique approach solves many of the centralization and security issues typically found in pure PoS systems.
Security and forward security
One of Spiderchain’s distinguishing features is forward security, a concept borrowed from cryptography. Forward security means that even if a key is compromised, it cannot be used to decrypt previous transactions, strengthening the network’s overall security framework. This feature ensures that past transaction data remains safe even if a future key is exposed. The protocol achieves this by rotating keys frequently and using unique keys per transaction, preventing a single point of failure from compromising the security of the entire chain.
“Given the roadmap for the various rollups, we will have to introduce a time delay at some point for upgrades. But even if there is a time delay, let’s say a two-week time delay or a 30-day time delay, after those 30 days, we know exactly that the attacker will be able to steal funds. With forward security, that’s a big unknown.”
This approach not only protects past transactions but also strengthens confidence in the network’s resilience against potential attacks.
Savings and capital efficiency
Spiderchain also implements slashing rules that penalize malicious stakers, further enhancing the security of the network. This robust mechanism ensures that malicious behavior is dealt with quickly and effectively. Moreover, Spiderchain’s design enables capital efficiency and decentralized ownership. Unlike other layer-2 solutions that rely on a single smart contract with a large amount of funds, Spiderchain distributes risk across multiple multisigs. “There are no more honeypots. Suddenly, there is something like decentralized ownership. There is no single party that can own the whole thing,” Schroé emphasized. This design also increases participation and security, making it a significant improvement over existing models.
Progress and Vision
Willem acknowledged that building on Bitcoin is complicated, despite recent progress. He emphasized Botanix Labs’ dedication to the project and its focus on moving from a white paper concept to a fully functioning product. “There’s a lot to build. It’s not easy to go from a white paper to a real functioning product, so we’ve been building with single-minded focus,” he explained.
Looking ahead, Willem shared the exciting news that Spiderchain’s federated sidechain will be going live soon: “We’ve implemented a larger Frost multisig and built out the initial federation. We’re starting with the federated sidechain and will basically build from there,” he announced.
Botanix’s Spiderchain has been running on testnet since November and has already processed over 1 million transactions.
