Published on: 2019-06-30T22:25:03+00:00
Tamas Blummer has introduced the concept of a generalized covenant in a recent bitcoin-dev post. This covenant allows for the creation of a federated side chain embedded into the Bitcoin block chain. The covenant puts a coin under the alternative control of Transfer and Exit keys, along with the script controlled by the current owner. Additional transaction level validations apply to transactions spending input with covenants.The purpose of this covenant is to offer alternate control paths, which is what taproot was designed for. By reducing control for the current owner and exploring less invasive predicates first, new use cases can be unlocked. One example is a covenant based on the total work performed by a miner, which could be a candidate for the annex.Another example scenario is presented where Bob purchases an asset guarded by the federation. If Alice wants to exit, she would need the exit signature of the federation. ZmnSCPxj raises concerns about the usefulness of covenants and suggests the idea of Smart Contracts Unchained. In response, Tamas provides an alternative covenant that allows for unrestricted flexibility to the unchained platform while maintaining the exit option.In an email exchange with ZmnSCPxj, Tamas acknowledges making an error in proposing the new covenant and suggests that the original example should remain unchanged. He also admits that he does not have a good answer for why the rightful owner is not enforcing the covenant instead of having it enforced by on-chain consensus.Tamas introduces the concept of a cut-through exit transaction suggested by ZmnSCPxj, which strengthens the example. This involves using the covenant: 'covenant or(_ covenant transitive, and(pkExit, _) covenant drop)'.Overall, the concept of generalized covenants offers a solution for creating federated side chains embedded into the Bitcoin block chain. It allows for alternative control of coins and additional transaction level validations. The examples provided demonstrate how these covenants can be applied in various scenarios.
Updated on: 2023-08-02T01:05:33.330992+00:00