Author: Dr Maxim Orlovsky 2022-04-11 16:38:37
Published on: 2022-04-11T16:38:37+00:00
On April 5th, 2022, Olaoluwa Osuntokun shared a new protocol called Taro with the Bitcoin-dev community. Taro is a Taproot Asset Representation Overlay that enables the issuance of normal and collectible assets on the main Bitcoin chain. The protocol uses a hybrid merkle tree called the Merkle Sum Sparse Merkle Tree (MS-SMT) to commit extra asset structured metadata based on a merkle sum tree and a sparse merkle tree. This allows for easily verifiable asset supply proofs and efficient proofs of non-existence. Taro asset transfers are embedded in a virtual/overlay transaction graph that uses a chain of asset witnesses to track the transfer of assets across taproot outputs. It also has a scripting system that allows programmatic unlocking/transfer of assets.The Taro design supports integration with the Lightning Network (BOLTs), as the scripting system can be used to emulate the existing HTLC structure, allowing for multi-hop transfers of Taro assets. Instead of modifying the internal network, the protocol proposes only recognizing "assets at the edges," meaning that only the sender+receiver need to know about and validate the assets. All asset transfers will utilize the Bitcoin backbone of the Lightning Network, which means that increased demand for transfers of these assets will generate more routing revenue for the Bitcoin backbone nodes.The set of BIPs for Taro is a multi-part suite consisting of the main Taro protocol, the MS-SMT structure, the Taro VM, the Taro address format, the Taro Universe concept, and the Taro flat file proof format. Rather than posting them all in line, they can be found in the links provided by the author.
Updated on: 2023-06-03T08:07:44.091294+00:00