Stephan Livera Podcast Simplicity Comes To Liquid with Andrew Poelstra | SLP686
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Aug 15, 2025 In a fascinating discussion, Andrew Poelstra, Director of Research at Blockstream and a Bitcoin development expert, shares insights about the launch of Simplicity on the Liquid network. He delves into how Simplicity enhances Bitcoin's scripting capabilities and its role in improving transaction security through formal verification. The conversation also highlights potential applications like advanced covenants, zero-knowledge verification, and its implications for stablecoins moving to their own chains, showcasing the transformative impact of Simplicity in the blockchain landscape.
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Simplicity Extends Bitcoin Scripting
- Simplicity is an alternate script language that sits alongside Taproot and Bitcoin Script for attaching scripts to UTXOs.
- It offers far greater expressivity and full covenant support compared with Bitcoin Script.
Tiny Language Enables Formal Proofs
- Simplicity is defined by a tiny set of combinators and has formal machine-checkable semantics.
- That simplicity enables multiple independent implementations and formal proofs of contract behavior.
Prove Critical Contract Properties
- Write formal specifications for critical contracts and produce machine-checkable proofs to ensure properties like signature requirements.
- Use existing theorem provers (Coq, Lean, F*) to prove your Simplicity code matches its spec before deployment.