{"id":46029,"date":"2025-07-31T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/?p=46029"},"modified":"2025-07-31T11:05:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T16:05:15","slug":"blockstream-launches-simplicity-smart-contracts-on-bitcoins-liquid-network-sidechain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/news\/blockstream-launches-simplicity-smart-contracts-on-bitcoins-liquid-network-sidechain","title":{"rendered":"Blockstream Launches Simplicity Smart Contracts on Bitcoin\u2019s Liquid Network Sidechain"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\n<p>Today, Blockstream announced it has launched Simplicity,&nbsp; a new smart contract language designed for the Liquid Network on Bitcoin, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine. Simplicity is based on Bitcoin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/glossary\/utxo\">UTXO<\/a> model, making it compatible with formal verification, allowing contracts to be mathematically proven correct before execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSimplicity gives Bitcoin expressive smart contracting power, but without the security problems associated with VM-based chains,\u201d said the Co-Founder and CEO of Blockstream Dr. Adam Back. \u201cIt\u2019s built from the ground up to be formally specified, secure, and efficient. With Simplicity, we\u2019re unlocking a wide range of innovative use cases on Bitcoin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simplicity avoids high risk features such as recursion, unbounded loops, and global variables. This design is intended to reduce the potential for bugs and vulnerabilities that have affected other smart contract systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The language was first proposed in 2012 by Blockstream engineer Dr. Russell O\u2019Connor and has since been developed by the company\u2019s research team. Blockstream is known for contributing to <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/guides\/what-is-bitcoin\">Bitcoin<\/a> infrastructure and protocol upgrades, including Taproot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simplicity supports several use cases, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Programmable vaults.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Multi-user Bitcoin-native smart banks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Decentralized exchanges without wrapped assets or global state.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Identity and reputation systems using signed assertions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Institutional custody setups using B-N signature schemes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Governance and crowdfunding with static voting rules, recurring payment logic and access-controlled services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe designed Simplicity to enable expressive Bitcoin-native applications without inheriting the complexity and fragility of other smart contract ecosystems,\u201d stated the Director of Research at Blockstream Andrew Poelstra. \u201cBy combining formal methods with the UTXO model, we\u2019re creating a foundation for secure, programmable finance on Bitcoin that both developers and entities such as financial institutions can depend on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Liquid Network currently has over <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/news\/bitcoin-liquid-network-surpasses-3-27-billion-in-total-value-locked\">$3.27 billion in total value locked<\/a> (TVL), mostly in Bitcoin and issued assets. Simplicity\u2019s integration into this environment aims to provide new tools for organizations looking to build applications within Bitcoin\u2019s ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For additional information on Simplicity, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/simplicity-lang.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new language uses Bitcoin\u2019s UTXO model and allows contracts to be verified with math before they are executed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3788,"featured_media":46030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4378],"tags":[76,287,5988,5989],"class_list":{"0":"post-46029","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-bitcoin","9":"tag-blockstream","10":"tag-liquid-network-sidechain","11":"tag-simplicity"},"author_data":{"id":3788,"name":"Oscar Zarraga Perez","nicename":"oscarperez","avatar_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cropped-Oscar-Zarraga-Perez-96x96.jpg"},"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Blockstream-Launches-Simplicity-Smart-Contracts-on-Bitcoins-Liquid-Network.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3788"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}