Description
OP_NET is a consensus layer on Bitcoin Layer 1 that enables smart contract deployment and execution without modifying Bitcoin's base protocol. Developers write contracts in AssemblyScript or Rust, compile to WebAssembly, and deploy them via standard Bitcoin Taproot transactions with contract bytecode embedded in witness fields. Contracts execute in a deterministic virtual machine called OP_VM, with state organized into five-block epochs (~50 minutes). Gas fees are paid in BTC with no separate token required. The protocol uses an SHA-1 near-collision mining system for reward distribution and time-delayed attestations to achieve deterministic state finality across nodes. Contract addresses use a P2OP format derived from the deployer's public key, a random salt, and the bytecode hash.