Counterparty , the technology for decentralized financial tools on the Bitcoin blockchain, has started running Ethereum smart contracts by porting the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to its codebase.
In late 2014, Counterparty added their support to execute the Ethereum smart contracts platform on Bitcoin; however, at that time, Ethereum was in its pre-alpha stage of development, with its first major release, Frontier, not yet being announced. Of course, with both Frontier, and later, the release of Homestead in late February, the developers at Counterparty have witnessed the EVM growing nicely. The end result was to create a contract that would work with Ethereum, Counterparty, and Bitcoin, which they seem to have achieved, according to Counterparty Core Developer, Ruben de Vries. He stated: It is not possible to start running a contract on Counterparty testnet with the current code. Speaking to CCN , director of the Counterparty Foundation, Trevor Altpeter, said that Ethereum’s added functionality on the Bitcoin blockchain means that Counterparty’s EVM can do everything that Ethereum is able to do except it occurs on the Bitcoin blockchain instead. The only differences are Bitcoin specific such as longer block times compared to Ethereum,” he said. “Counterparty’s EVM port will allow users to create and deploy decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), DAPPS, and smart contracts on the Bitcoin blockchain. Since its introduction in 2009, Bitcoin has been the most widely used digital currency, the most valuable digital currency, and the most secure blockchain. Naturally, then, Ethereum’s added functionality on the blockchain means that the security provided by the digital currency is one of the largest benefits relative to any other existing blockchains.
Another benefit is the fact that Counterparty uses Bitcoin addresses directly, which is “the logical progression given Bitcoin’s currency dominance in cryptocurrency,” said Altpeter. “It has the added benefit of […]
