A Bitcoin developer by the name of Burak recently unveiled Ark, a Layer 2 protocol designed to enable fast and secure transactions. According to a post on the Bitcoin dev mailing list, Ark offers an alternative scaling approach that allows users to send and receive funds without liquidity constraints, making it easier for recipients to get paid without an onboarding setup. Unlike other Layer 2 solutions like Lightning, Ark does not require the opening and closing of channels, reducing the on-chain footprint significantly.
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The protocol operates using virtual UTXOs (vTXOs), which are short-lived notes that expire after four weeks. When a payment is made, existing vTXOs are redeemed, and new ones are created. The anonymity of coin ownership is improved by restricting vTXO values to a range of sats values. Users can acquire vTXOs from others or use a process called lifting, which allows them to lift their on-chain UTXOs off the chain for virtual UTXOs.
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