Alys is a merged mined Bitcoin sidechain.
- Uses BTC as its base currency.
- Reaches consensus through aux PoW executed by Bitcoin miners and a federation.
- Facilitates a two-way peg between Bitcoin and the Alys sidechain through the federation members.
On a high level, the repository consists of three parts:
- app: Contains a consensus client for block production and finalization and a federation client to process peg-in and peg-out transactions.
- contracts: Contains the smart contract for burning bridged BTC by users to trigger the peg-out process.
- crates: Contains the logic for the peg-in and peg-out handling used by the app. It also contains the logic to interact with Bitcoin miners.
- docs: Contains more information on the architecture.
- Install Rust
1.87.0or higher: https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install - Install Geth
1.14.10: https://geth.ethereum.org/docs/getting-started/installing-geth - Install Bitcoin Core
28.0or higher so that you have access to thebitcoindandbitcoin-clicommands:- MacOS:
brew install bitcoin - Ubuntu:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bitcoin/bitcoin && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install bitcoind - Arch:
yay bitcoin-core - Download a binary: https://bitcoin.org/en/download
- MacOS:
- Install clang
- Install cmake
3.31.3 - Install pkg-config
- Install libssl-dev
- Install build-essential
- Install foundry: https://book.getfoundry.sh/getting-started/installation
To help you get started with Alys, we provide two guides. The first guide demonstrates how to set up and run Alys using Docker Compose, which is the easiest and quickest way to get started. The second guide walks you through a manual setup process for more control and customization.
-
Running Alys - Manual setup (for local development)
- Explorer: http://testnet.alyscan.io/
- Faucet: https://faucet.anduro.io/
- Chain ID: 212121
Anduro operates a public testnet for Alys used for development & testing. Anyone wishing to interact with the Alys testnet, whether it be to query the chain, send transactions, or connect your own node to the network, can find connection info below.
IP: 209.160.175.123
Enode: enode://4a131d635e3b1ab30624912f769a376581087a84eef53f4fccc28bac0a45493bd4e2ee1ff409608c0993dd05e2b8a3d351e65a7697f1ee2b3c9ee9b49529958f@209.160.175.123:30303IP: 209.160.175.124
Enode: enode://15d60f94195b361bf20acfd8b025b8f332b79f5752637e225e7c73aca7b17dd978ca94ab825d0f5221210e69ffcd96e910a257e25ff936c918335c44cc7041ba@209.160.175.124:30303IP: 209.160.175.125
Enode: enode://53d6af0f549e4f9b4f768bc37145f7fd800fdbe1203652fd3d2ff7444663a4f5cfe8c06d5ed4b25fe3185920c28b2957a0307f1eed8af49566bba7e3f0c95b04@209.160.175.125:30303To establish peering connections between the nodes, you can use the following command:
cast rpc admin_addTrustedPeer '["<enode_url_of_any_alys_node_listed_above>"]'Next, we move funds from Bitcoin to Alys via the peg-in to be able to send transactions on the Alys sidechain.
From the running Alys node, we can get the federation deposit address via the getdepositaddress RPC:
curl --silent -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"id":"1", "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "getdepositaddress", "params":[]}' http://localhost:3000 | jq -r .resultThis returns the federation deposit address of your local Alys node, e.g.:
bcrt1p3srvwkq5kyzlxqls43x97ch2vpcp4j278nk8jjuzcgt8k40ttr9s4vj934
Next, we do a bit of bitcoin-cli magic to create an "Alys" wallet. We send some BTC on regtest from the Alys wallet to the federation deposit address and add an EVM account (0x09Af4E864b84706fbCFE8679BF696e8c0B472201) in an OP_RETURN field for which we know the private key (0xb9176fa68b7c590eba66b7d1894a78fad479d6259e9a80d93b9871c232132c01).
You can run this script to achieve the peg in. The script will automatically fetch the deposit address from the federation nodes.
# set the btc amount and evm address
EVM_ADDRESS="09Af4E864b84706fbCFE8679BF696e8c0B472201"
./scripts/regtest_pegin.sh "1.0" $EVM_ADDRESS
# OR use the $DEV_PRIVATE_KEY
./scripts/regtest_pegin.shThe Alys node will automatically bridge the BTC.
Run cast to check that the funds have been allocated. Note that on peg-in, satoshis (10^8) will be converted to wei (10^18) so you will see a lot more 0s for the bridge 1 BTC, i.e., 1x10^18 wei instead of 1x10^8 satoshis.
cast balance 0x09Af4E864b84706fbCFE8679BF696e8c0B472201 --rpc-url "localhost:8545"
> 1000000000000000000Next up, we want to peg out.
We are returning the funds to the Alys wallet we created in Bitcoin.
We can use the peg out contract set the genesis at address 0xbBbBBBBbbBBBbbbBbbBbbbbBBbBbbbbBbBbbBBbB, see also the genesis file.
We are doing this from the CLI and will need to define a PRIVATE_KEY env.
PRIVATE_KEY: The private key is0xb9176fa68b7c590eba66b7d1894a78fad479d6259e9a80d93b9871c232132c01. This is the private key to the address0x09Af4E864b84706fbCFE8679BF696e8c0B472201that we set for the peg in.
# set the private key and btc address
PRIVATE_KEY=0xb9176fa68b7c590eba66b7d1894a78fad479d6259e9a80d93b9871c232132c01
./scripts/regtest_pegout.sh $PRIVATE_KEY $BTC_ADDRESS
# OR just the private key
./scripts/regtest_pegout.sh $PRIVATE_KEY
# OR use the $DEV_PRIVATE_KEY
./scripts/regtest_pegout.sh
# check the last 3 transactions. The 2 last should be the mining reward to alys (with category "immature") and the 3rd last txs should be a normal receive tx from the foundation
bitcoin-cli -regtest -rpcuser=rpcuser -rpcpassword=rpcpassword listtransactions "*" 3Expected output
{
"address": "bcrt1qane4k9ejhhca9w0ez7ale7xru5pnrqmuwqayhc",
"parent_descs": [
"wpkh(tpubD6NzVbkrYhZ4XGc5eHTPRieN8p27r6PPNenUPJz5JQeCkav8aZ2wz9zc83xgEUVbpQetH6FXABUZ5LDG9uDWqf7fc9RN2yfJzDAmHnSFHHw/84h/1h/0h/0/*)#t9fj9n6e"
],
"category": "receive",
"amount": 0.00010000,
"label": "",
"vout": 0,
"abandoned": false,
"confirmations": 2,
"blockhash": "78e3a9699277e9dc1da0da5e7f47bded9abdfce673bf1858e18aa6c2089d7d54",
"blockheight": 792,
"blockindex": 1,
"blocktime": 1706691489,
"txid": "831094cba680a5cbbd622b464eaf69562d53b681400c747cee72caddbc9765b4",
"wtxid": "0dca63f31e7b873ef29d5ea3124a62f7e40d9f9de5b72e88c39904e9e6750256",
"walletconflicts": [
],
"time": 1706691488,
"timereceived": 1706691488,
"bip125-replaceable": "no"
},First, follow the manual setup guide here to get your local environment setup.
Tests are self-contained such that none of the services need to run.
cargo testGo to the contracts folder.
cd ./contractsThe contracts folder contains only the bridge contract for the peg out. However, you can add any other smart contracts you may wish to add here.
Build and deploy.
forge buildWe are going to deploy an example ERC20 contract to show how to interact with the sidechain.
We are going to use our private key (0xb9176fa68b7c590eba66b7d1894a78fad479d6259e9a80d93b9871c232132c01) as a means to deploy the contract. Make sure the account belonging to this key has received funds via the peg-in procedure.
PRIVATE_KEY=0xb9176fa68b7c590eba66b7d1894a78fad479d6259e9a80d93b9871c232132c01
# constructor takes the name of the contract, the ticker, and the initial supply that is minted to the creator of the contract
forge create --rpc-url "http://127.0.0.1:8545" --private-key ${PRIVATE_KEY} src/MockErc20.sol:MockErc20 --json --constructor-args "HelloBitcoinContract" "HBC" 100000000000000000000000This should result in something like:
{"deployer":"0x09Af4E864b84706fbCFE8679BF696e8c0B472201","deployedTo":"0x1C36129916E3EA2ACcD516Ae92C8f91deF7c4146","transactionHash":"0x8478bbed6ba658eecb8e36c143969cf6c11c4517f5f32acf75af5a9c41ac69dd"}Other useful scripts:
# Send some of the ERC20 tokens from the deployed contract (0x1C36129916E3EA2ACcD516Ae92C8f91deF7c4146) to account 0xd362E49EE9453Bf414c35288cD090189af2B2C55
cast send --private-key ${PRIVATE_KEY} \
--rpc-url "localhost:8545" \
--chain 263634 \
0x1C36129916E3EA2ACcD516Ae92C8f91deF7c4146 \
"transfer(address,uint256)" 0xd362E49EE9453Bf414c35288cD090189af2B2C55 100000000
# Send 16200000000007550 wei bridged BTC to account 0xd362E49EE9453Bf414c35288cD090189af2B2C55
cast send --private-key ${PRIVATE_KEY} 0xd362E49EE9453Bf414c35288cD090189af2B2C55 --value 16200000000007550forge testforge fmtSince we use Geth without modification, it is already possible to use most existing EVM tooling out-the-box including MetaMask, Foundry / Hardhat and of course Blockscout!
To setup Blockscout follow the deployment guides here. We recommend using Docker Compose for simplicity.
git clone [email protected]:blockscout/blockscout.git
cd ./docker-composeChange the environment variables:
# /docker-compose/envs/common-blockscout.yml
SUBNETWORK=Merged ALYS
CHAIN_ID=263634
# /docker-compose/envs/common-frontend.yml
NEXT_PUBLIC_NETWORK_NAME=Merged ALYS Alpha
NEXT_PUBLIC_NETWORK_SHORT_NAME=Merged ALYS Alpha
Start the explorer with:
docker-compose -f geth.yml up --buildThe explorer runs on localhost:80.
If you reset the chain make sure to clear the persistent data in docker-compose/services/.
sudo rm -rf services/redis-data services/stats-db-data services/blockscout-db-data services/logsWe provide genesis.json for local development using Geth but it is also possible to use this other deployments.
It was previously based on the Sepolia genesis with some modifications using this guide:
geth --sepolia dumpgenesis | jq .Ensure that the chain is configured to start post-capella (set shanghaiTime to 0).
The Alys sidechain expects the bridge contract to be pre-deployed at 0xbBbBBBBbbBBBbbbBbbBbbbbBBbBbbbbBbBbbBBbB, this is set in alloc.
When you start the Alys sidechain it will use a chain spec to configure it's own genesis block based also on the Geth genesis configured above. We provide chain.json for local development assuming three nodes (instructions above) or using --chain=dev will start a single node network. See the annotations below for how to configure a new setup:
{
// the block duration in milliseconds
"slotDuration": 2000,
// public keys for bls signing
"authorities": [],
// evm addresses for each authority (to receive fees)
"federation": [],
// public keys for secp256k1 signing
"federationBitcoinPubkeys": [],
// initial PoW mining difficulty
"bits": 553713663,
// should be the same as the geth `genesis.json`
"chainId": 263634,
// stall block production if no AuxPow is received
"maxBlocksWithoutPow": 10,
// set the scanning height, use latest height for testnet or mainnet
"bitcoinStartHeight": 0,
"retargetParams": {
// disable retargeting so we always keep the same target
"powNoRetargeting": false,
// the maximum target allowed
"powLimit": 553713663,
// expected difficulty adjustment period (in seconds)
"powTargetTimespan": 12000,
// expected block time (in seconds)
"powTargetSpacing": 1000
}
}Each node should use the same genesis and chain spec, otherwise blocks will be rejected.
Ensure that each federation member has set an EVM address to receive fees - this can be derived from the same secret key used to generate the public key in "authorities". When fees are generated from EVM transactions they are sent directly to that account.