{"id":15521,"date":"2026-01-29T11:26:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=15521"},"modified":"2026-02-24T10:23:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T17:23:50","slug":"what-is-citrea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/29\/what-is-citrea\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Citrea?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is a good write up on Citrea and how it factors into other Bitcoin<\/a> layer 2 protocols. I like the privacy angle with zero knowledge proofs, but we have Palantir’s Peter Thiel investing in the company, so you have to think there is a catch. The smart contract functionality might be useful, but I just wouldn’t trust the platform at present. Lightning works fine for my needs, and Liquid comes in a close second though with that being pioneered by Blockstream and Bitcoin traitor Adam Back… I’d have to look into it a lot more to fully trust it as a replacement for Lightning. But definitely something to be aware of and to monitor going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/thebitcoinmanual.com\/articles\/btc-citrea\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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By Che Kohler<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bitcoin has proven it\u2019s the only real innovation in the blockchain space, while altcoins have made for interesting experiments with real money, real lives and real crimes, no other chain has come close to Bitcoin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With each 4-year (bull<\/a> & bear<\/a>) cycle that goes by, Bitcoin continues to lap these other ecosystems, draining liquidity, users, interest, and development away from these projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While its decentralisation, security, and immutability remain unmatched, Bitcoin has faced persistent challenges with scalability. So the altcoiners aren\u2019t wrong about that criticism; they were just wrong about how to solve it using another base layer chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As adoption grows, the network has shown glimpses of what happens with its limited throughput, which is becoming increasingly apparent, with high fees and slow confirmation times during periods of congestion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granted we haven\u2019t seen it in a while, but running up 150 sat per vybte transaction fees and 3-day waiting times to clear the mempool is not the future of money, sorry!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what do we do? We\u2019ve got to scale! We need more layer twos, bro!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those smaller-sized, frequent coffee payments, zaps, and eCommerce purchases get that nonsense off-chain, base chains for the big boys, who want to stack teasuries and hodl long-term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I get that, I am with you! I am a Lightning user!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no shortage of projects claiming I\u2019ve just heard about Bitcoin, and I am here to scale it! Spin up an EVM chain, and have a bridge node monitor a multi-sig; boom, you\u2019re a self-proclaimed layer two Harry!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, forgive my lack of enthusiasm, every time I hear we\u2019re going to put an EVM on Bitcoin, somehow or somehow, by hook or crook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Citrea?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Citrea, developed by Chainway Labs, is a zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup built specifically for Bitcoin. Launched in 2024, it represents one of the most technically sophisticated approaches to scaling Bitcoin to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a rollup solution, Citrea processes transactions off the main Bitcoin blockchain (Layer 1) and periodically submits cryptographic proofs to the main chain, leveraging Bitcoin\u2019s security while dramatically increasing throughput and reducing fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citrea, which raised $2.7 million in seed funding<\/a> in a Galaxy-led round in February of 2024, uses the BitVM<\/a> as its peg-in-out mechanism to allow Ethereum-style smart contracts on Bitcoin and later raised a further $14 million in Series A funding led by Peter Thiel\u2019s Founders Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Citrea Works: The Technical Foundation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Citrea\u2019s architecture combines several advanced cryptographic techniques to create a secure and efficient scaling solution for Bitcoin:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. The Rollup Mechanism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At its core, Citrea works by moving transaction processing off-chain while anchoring security to the Bitcoin blockchain. Here\u2019s how the process flows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Transaction Collection<\/strong>: Users submit transactions to the Citrea network instead of directly to the Bitcoin blockchain.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Batch Processing<\/strong>: These transactions are bundled together into large batches within the Citrea environment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. State Computation<\/strong>: All transactions are executed, and a new state is computed off-chain.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Zero-Knowledge Proof Generation<\/strong>: A cryptographic proof is created that verifies the correctness of all transactions in the batch without revealing the specific details.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Proof Submission<\/strong>: This compact proof is then submitted to the Bitcoin blockchain, along with state transition data.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The beauty of this approach is that instead of requiring Bitcoin to process every single transaction, it only needs to verify a single cryptographic proof that represents potentially thousands of transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. Zero-Knowledge Proofs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Citrea employs advanced zero-knowledge proof systems to cryptographically verify the validity of all transactions without revealing their details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This approach:<\/p>\n\n\n\n