Hi everyone, I'm a phd student researching in the area of cybersecurity, mostly blockchain
As you may know, Bitcoin doesn't support high-level smart contracts (unlike Ethereum), but only an assembly-like "Bitcoin Script," which is really challenging to write (just like in the 1970s assembly era). Since wrong code directly causes security vulnerabilities like unspendable or anyone-can-spend coins, I've researched how to build high-level Bitcoin smart contracts safely, studying many of the efforts ongoing both in the Bitcoin(e.g. miniscript) and Ethereum(e.g. EVM and Solidity).
Now, I have finally released Bithoven v0.0.1 as free, open-source software with a Web IDE, documentation, and the compiler code itself. I would be grateful for any feedback, code reviews, or contributions from anyone interested in security, programming languages, and obviously Bitcoin!
The goal is simple: write readable, compile-time-safe code that compiles down to efficient, native Bitcoin Script (supporting Legacy, SegWit, and Taproot).
Key features are following:
- Imperative Syntax: Write logic using familiar if, else, and return statements instead of agonizing Bitcoin Script.
- Type Safety: First-class support for bool, signature, string, and number types to prevent common type errors.
- Multiple Spending Paths: Define complex contracts (like HTLCs) with distinct execution branches and input stack requirements.
- Targeted Compilation: Support for legacy, segwit, and taproot compilation targets via pragmas.
- Native Bitcoin Primitives: Built-in keywords for timelocks (older, after), cryptography (sha256, checksig), and verification (verify).
Instead of writing raw opcodes like
OP_IF <timeout> OP_CHECKSEQUENCEVERIFY..., Bithoven allows you to define logic clearly. Here is the actual code for a Hashed Time-Locked Contract:
pragma bithoven version 0.0.1;
pragma bithoven target segwit;
(condition: bool, sig_alice: signature)
(condition: bool, preimage: string, sig_bob: signature)
{
// If want to spend if branch, condition witness item should be true.
if condition {
// Relative locktime for 1000 block confirmation.
older 1000;
// If locktime satisfied, alice can redeem by providing signature.
return checksig (sig_alice, "0245a6b3f8eeab8e88501a9a25391318dce9bf35e24c377ee82799543606bf5212");
} else {
// Bob needs to provide secret preimage to unlock hash lock.
verify sha256 sha256 preimage == "53de742e2e323e3290234052a702458589c30d2c813bf9f866bef1b651c4e45f";
// If hashlock satisfied, bob can redeem by providing signature.
return checksig (sig_bob, "0345a6b3f8eeab8e88501a9a25391318dce9bf35e24c377ee82799543606bf5212");
}
}
I’ve put together a Web IDE so you can experiment with the syntax and see the compiled output instantly—no installation required.
Web IDE: https://bithoven-lang.github.io/bithoven/ide/Documentation: https://bithoven-lang.github.io/bithoven/docs/GitHub: https://github.com/ChrisCho-H/bithovenBithoven is free, open-source software. Please note that the project (and its accompanying academic paper) is currently under review and in the experimental stage.
I would be incredibly grateful for any feedback, code reviews, or contributions from the Bitcoin community.
Thanks for checking it out!
