S16 E37: Andrew Poelstra on Simplicity, Bitcoin Script & Upgrades

Show Notes

Andrew Poelstra is the director of research at Blockstream. He is a co-author of the 2014 sidechains paper, a researcher who worked on refining multi-signature setups, the first known developer to work on Mimble Wimble and propose it as an extension block upgrade for Bitcoin, and also one of the main proponents of OP_CAT activation. In this episode, we talk about the Simplicity scripting language, the state of adoption of the Liquid sidechain, and many other topics related to Blockstream. Time stamps: (00:00:50) Introducing Andrew Poelstra (00:01:45) Simplicity: Now Live on Liquid (00:02:12) Elements and Liquid’s Technical Evolution (00:03:09) Is Simplicity a Response to Solidity? (00:05:40) Simplicity’s Programming Model & Rust Inspiration (00:08:04) Demo Applications and Simplicity Playground (00:10:03) Why Not Stick with Bitcoin Script? (00:11:48) Bitcoin Script’s Limitations and Quirks (00:19:14) Simplicity’s Capabilities: Computation & Covenants (00:22:26) Formal Verification and Multi-Language Implementations (00:25:21) Machine-Checkable Proofs and Contract Safety (00:29:07) Covenants, OP_CAT, and Script Extension Fears (00:33:26) Simplicity as a Future Script Extension Path (00:34:31) Ethereum’s Design Mistakes & Simplicity’s Approach (00:53:00) Simplicity’s Lateness and Ethereum’s Rise (01:01:12) Simplicity’s Usability and Adoption Challenges (01:04:18) Potential Use Cases for Simplicity: Vaults, Business Logic, Quantum Signatures (01:08:06) Wallets and Simplicity Integration (01:16:30) Simplicity vs. Soft Forks for New Opcodes (01:19:01) Jets: Optimizing Simplicity with Native Code (01:22:44) Collider Script and High-Cost Emulation (01:24:44) Resource Limits and Transaction Size (01:29:34) Non-Scammy, Technologically Interesting Altcoins: Monero, Zcash, Grin, and Sia (01:33:14) Where to Learn More About Simplicity