Running Core's real consensus code inside a zkVM

The discussion around Ghost Pay design highlights its reliance on a federated bridge system, akin to those used in existing blockchain technologies. The design involves the same federation handling both the bridging and the production of state transitions. This contrasts with Rootstock’s approach where the bridge operations are separated; maintained by a static federation but with block production being carried out by Bitcoin miners through merge mining. This distinction opens up possibilities for adopting similar methodologies in enhancing the Ghost Pay system.

A proposed enhancement could involve integrating a Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) system into Ghost Pay, leveraging Rootstock’s infrastructure. By using Rootstock as a mining pool and capitalizing on its Proof of Stake mechanism combined with RVM’s expressivity, there is potential to increase the influence of Rootstock miners within the network. Particularly, those who have recently produced Rootstock blocks could be given additional weight in the staked RBTC. This adjustment would not only centralize control to some extent—making it somewhat akin to a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)—but also expand the service offerings beyond mere payment pooling and coinjoin. Potential extensions could include services like Data Availability, thereby broadening the utility scope of the platform.

Such strategic enhancements aim to fortify the sustainability of Ghost Pay, making it more robust against the typical lifecycle challenges faced by VC-funded startups. These adaptations could potentially support the platform’s longevity and relevance in the competitive blockchain service market.