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Rootstock: a merged-mined Bitcoin sidechain with an EVM

Rootstock. RootstockLabs.

Rootstock publishes an EVM sidechain merged-mined with Bitcoin, with a bridge between bitcoin and the sidechain's representation of it.

A reading of the project's public design document. Not a copy, not a benchmark, and not an offer.

Rootstock publishes an EVM sidechain merged-mined with Bitcoin, with a bridge between bitcoin and the sidechain's representation of it.
Evidence
Primary paper
Re-measured
No
Assumptions
3
Records linked
6

01 Claim ledger

What the paper is allowed to say

Each row is a sentence already in the study. The status is the same on every row: a model claim, not a live measurement.

  1. Claim 01 · Paper model

    The defect

    Merged mining shares proof of work. It does not make the sidechain's bridge trustless. The bridge federation or the later bridge design is its own assumption.

  2. Claim 02 · Paper model

    The proposal

    Rootstock publishes an EVM sidechain merged-mined with Bitcoin, with a bridge between bitcoin and the sidechain's representation of it.

  3. Claim 03 · Paper model

    The mechanism

    Merge-mining means Bitcoin miners can produce Rootstock blocks with the same work. The fork choice still has to be read from the Rootstock docs.

  4. Claim 04 · Paper model

    The bound

    This note states no hash-rate share.

02 Three cuts

Observation, model, falsifier

A desk does not stop at the summary. Each claim is cut three ways, using only this study's own assumptions and checks. Nothing here is a new figure.

  1. 01 The defect

    Observation

    What the study says

    Merged mining shares proof of work. It does not make the sidechain's bridge trustless. The bridge federation or the later bridge design is its own assumption.

    Model

    What has to hold

    You are reading Rootstock's developer docs, not the 2014 sidechains paper.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Does merge-mining require a majority of Bitcoin hash, or only a share, in the doc you opened?

  2. 02 The proposal

    Observation

    What the study says

    Rootstock publishes an EVM sidechain merged-mined with Bitcoin, with a bridge between bitcoin and the sidechain's representation of it.

    Model

    What has to hold

    You are reading Rootstock's developer docs, not the 2014 sidechains paper.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Who can sign a peg-out back to Bitcoin?

  3. 03 The mechanism

    Observation

    What the study says

    Merge-mining means Bitcoin miners can produce Rootstock blocks with the same work. The fork choice still has to be read from the Rootstock docs.

    Model

    What has to hold

    You are reading Rootstock's developer docs, not the 2014 sidechains paper.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Does merge-mining require a majority of Bitcoin hash, or only a share, in the doc you opened?

  4. 04 The bound

    Observation

    What the study says

    This note states no hash-rate share.

    Model

    What has to hold

    You are reading Rootstock's developer docs, not the 2014 sidechains paper.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Does merge-mining require a majority of Bitcoin hash, or only a share, in the doc you opened?

03 Sequence

One action, as an operating tape

  1. 01Merge-mining means Bitcoin miners can produce Rootstock blocks with the same work. The fork choice still has to be read from the Rootstock docs.
  2. 02RBTC or the equivalent representation is a claim on the bridge, not a Bitcoin output, until it is redeemed.
  3. 03The EVM on the sidechain is not Bitcoin script. Contracts do not inherit Bitcoin's transaction rules.

04 Load-bearing

The argument, and where a pitch drops it

  1. What the name has to mean

    The cut

    Rootstock publishes an EVM sidechain merged-mined with Bitcoin, with a bridge between bitcoin and the sidechain's representation of it.

    Why it carries weight

    If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.

    Where it is dropped

    The historic sidechains paper is a different document and is already filed. This is Rootstock's own design.

  2. What actually moves

    The cut

    RBTC or the equivalent representation is a claim on the bridge, not a Bitcoin output, until it is redeemed.

    Why it carries weight

    If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.

    Where it is dropped

    A later client, parameter or reward formula is a different object from this paragraph.

  3. What a later deployment may change

    The cut

    The EVM on the sidechain is not Bitcoin script. Contracts do not inherit Bitcoin's transaction rules.

    Why it carries weight

    If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.

    Where it is dropped

    A later client, parameter or reward formula is a different object from this paragraph.

05 Register

What has to be true

  • Model · Not re-measured

    You are reading Rootstock's developer docs, not the 2014 sidechains paper.

  • Model · Not re-measured

    The document is the one at the source URL. A marketing page with the same brand is not this text.

  • Model · Not re-measured

    No price, supply, yield, or adoption figure is added by this desk.

06 Divergence

What happened after the paper

A federation, if the docs still have one, is a trusted set. Name it.

A later client, parameter set, or reward formula is a different object. Cite this paper for the mechanism. Cite a primary release for the network. This desk has not re-run the proof.

07 Pre-mortem

What to check before you use the idea

  4. 0 of 3 marked on this browser. A mark is a reading note, not a pass, a rating, or a recommendation.

08 Anatomy

The paper, in the order a builder needs

The problem it names

Merged mining shares proof of work. It does not make the sidechain's bridge trustless. The bridge federation or the later bridge design is its own assumption.

What the design proposes

  • Merge-mining means Bitcoin miners can produce Rootstock blocks with the same work. The fork choice still has to be read from the Rootstock docs.
  • RBTC or the equivalent representation is a claim on the bridge, not a Bitcoin output, until it is redeemed.
  • The EVM on the sidechain is not Bitcoin script. Contracts do not inherit Bitcoin's transaction rules.

How the mechanism is specified

  • Merge-mining means Bitcoin miners can produce Rootstock blocks with the same work. The fork choice still has to be read from the Rootstock docs.
  • RBTC or the equivalent representation is a claim on the bridge, not a Bitcoin output, until it is redeemed.
  • The EVM on the sidechain is not Bitcoin script. Contracts do not inherit Bitcoin's transaction rules.

What this page does not treat as proven

  • This note states no hash-rate share.
  • The historic sidechains paper is a different document and is already filed. This is Rootstock's own design.
  • A federation, if the docs still have one, is a trusted set. Name it.

Why the desk still reads it

Rootstock publishes an EVM sidechain merged-mined with Bitcoin, with a bridge between bitcoin and the sidechain's representation of it.

09 Lexicon

Terms, opened into the record

Merge-mining
Producing a sidechain block with Bitcoin proof of work. It is not the peg.
Peg
The bridge between bitcoin and the sidechain asset. It has its own signers or proofs.

10 Repository

Every linked record on this page

Underlined words open a page that already exists: a concept, a protocol profile, a failure record, or another paper. If a word is not underlined, this desk does not have a record for it.

Protocols

This is Blockchain Lab's reading of a public design paper. It is not the paper, not a copy of it, and not an offer of tokens, equity, custody or a partnership. Later network behaviour can diverge from the text. Nothing here is investment, legal or technical advice.

Research status: Design paper. Last reviewed: 1 October 2026. This is a reading of a public paper, not investment, legal or security advice.