The Dfinity Foundation’s internet computer chain brings smart contract functions to the Bitcoin network (BTC) and potentially opens the door to new use cases for the leading cryptocurrency.

Internet Computer will use so-called key chain cryptography for integration with Bitcoin and pave the way for smart contracts whose native BTC addresses are stored directly on the Internet computer, the Dfinity Foundation announced on Tuesday.

“Internet computer smart contracts will have access to bitcoin liquidity, and bitcoin will have powerful new smart contract capabilities without the need for insecure and cumbersome trusted bridging services.” Bulky, “said Dominic Williams, founder and chief scientist of the Dfinity Foundation.

Smart contracts on internet computers have associated BTC addresses that give them direct access to transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain. The transaction completion time on the Internet computer takes 2 seconds, compared to 40 minutes for Bitcoin. To solve this problem, the so-called “Bitcoin Bank” can be used directly on the Internet computer, which enables fast transactions in 2 seconds.

Earlier this year, the Dfinity Foundation launched a $ 223 million developer ecosystem program to support the continued development of blockchain and smart contracts. Launched in 2014, the project has received financial support from some of the largest crypto venture companies, including Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital.

Dfinity’s recent efforts are part of an industry-wide initiative to make Bitcoin more accessible for transactions, financial decentralization, and Web 3.0. In January, the open source network Stacks revealed its vision for Bitcoin-focused smart contracts using a layer-one blockchain with a native bridge.

Several other developers are in the process of rolling out new apps ahead of Bitcoin’s much-anticipated Taproot upgrade later this year. The upgrade received strong support from mining nodes and paved the way for soft fork activation in November.

Related(Dfinity): Grow or Die: How Smart Contracts Change the Balance of Power in the Cryptosphere

While bitcoin didn’t reach all tenants of Satoshi Nakamoto’s 2008 whitepaper – namely, its widespread utility as an electric money system – it has emerged as a leading alternative asset. The Bitcoin network hit a total market cap of over $ 1 trillion in May before undergoing a major market correction. Much of this growth is due to growing institutional support for the bitcoin asset.