# zkBitcoin: Use Zero-Knowledge Applications (zkapps) on Bitcoin

- **Authors**: David Wong
- **Date**: January 31, 2024
- **Tags**: announcement, zk

![zkbitcoin](/img/zkbitcoin.png)

In collaboration with [Σ0](https://www.sigmazero.xyz/), we released a new primitive called **zkBitcoin**, which allows for the creation of zero-knowledge applications (zkapps) on Bitcoin via a minimal layer 2 protocol that uses Bitcoin as data availability layer and a committee of participants to perform threshold signatures. 

This is a significant milestone for the Bitcoin ecosystem as it augments the capability of the Bitcoin scripting language allowing for larger and more complex application. In addition, it unlocks privacy-preserving applications for Bitcoin.

We're currently running on testnet, and you can try it out by downloading the [zkBitcoin CLI](https://github.com/zksecurity/zkbitcoin). 

You can read the whitepaper here, which describes the two types of zkapps that can be created, stateless and stateful, while providing more details about the protocol overall:

[![zkbitcoin](/img/zkbitcoin_paper.png)](https://github.com/zksecurity/zkbitcoin/blob/main/whitepaper.pdf)

If you like videos, you can watch:

- [an overview of the project](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a0UYT5nbEA)
- [a walkthrough of the whitepaper](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y-Z4nZB8FE)
- [a walkthrough of the codebase](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSNrRPauIEA)

We're excited to see what people will build on top of zkBitcoin. If you're interested in running a node for the network, or interested in using the protocol for your own application or L2, [shoot us a message](https://blog.zksecurity.xyz/posts/zkbitcoin/mailto:hello@zksecurity.xyz)!

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This article was published on the [ZK/SEC Quarterly](https://blog.zksecurity.xyz) blog by [ZK Security](https://www.zksecurity.xyz), a leading security firm specialized in zero-knowledge proofs, MPC, FHE, and advanced cryptography. ZK Security has audited some of the most critical ZK systems in production, discovered vulnerabilities in major protocols including Aleo, Solana, and Halo2, and built open-source tools like [Clean](https://github.com/Verified-zkEVM/clean) for formally verified ZK circuits. For more articles, see the [full list of posts](https://blog.zksecurity.xyz/llms.txt).