Over 40 experts from the Bitcoin technical community sign a petition for the adoption of CTV and CSFS opcodes within six months.
A portion of the Bitcoin developer community appears to have reached consensus regarding the next protocol upgrade. An open letter signed by over 40 experts requests the priority implementation of two opcodes: OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (CTV, BIP-119) and OP_CHECKSIGFROMSTACK (CSFS, BIP-348).
The developers believe that activating CTV and CSFS constitutes the most appropriate next step for Bitcoin’s evolution. The letter emphasizes how, despite the existence of various proposals to improve the protocol, CTV and CSFS stand out for being extensively reviewed, for their implementation simplicity, and for proving to be both secure and widely requested by the community.
CTV: five years of development and refinement
OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY was first formalized in BIP-119 over five years ago. Despite numerous attempts at refinement or replacement, it remains the preferred method for enforcing pre-generated transaction sequences using consensus, the developers state.
According to the letter’s signatories, implementing CTV on Bitcoin would unlock functionality for:
- scaling solutions;
- secure vault systems;
- network congestion control;
- non-custodial mining;
- Discreet Log Contracts (DLC).
CSFS: eight years of proven experience
The developers declare that OP_CHECKSIGFROMSTACK is a primitive opcode, implemented on the open source Blockstream Elements platform for at least eight years. It does not represent a significant computational burden compared to Bitcoin’s most used opcode, OP_CHECKSIG, the document’s signatories state.
When combined with CTV, CSFS enables LN-symmetry, an improvement for Lightning Network. Additionally, it unlocks a variety of other use cases.
The letter’s signatories ask Bitcoin Core contributors to prioritize the review and integration of CTV and CSFS within the next six months. This timeline is considered appropriate to allow for rigorous final review and activation planning.
The letter was signed by over 40 figures from the Bitcoin community, including developers such as Andrew Poelstra, Calle, Christian Decker, and Robin Linus, along with representatives from industry companies such as Chun Wang from f2pool, representatives from Zeus, Luxor Mining, Mara Pool, and Cake Wallet.
