RSK trumpets Bitcoin-based smart contracts and bug bounty programme

RSK, the blockchain builder marrying Bitcoin's secure and battle-tested infrastructure with Ethereum-style smart contracts, is pleased to announce the release of its open source MainNet Beta Network.

RSK's smart contract platform uses a two-way peg to the Bitcoin Blockchain, sharing Bitcoin's mining power to secure transactions, a process called merge-mining. The two-way peg allows a hybrid security system. In the first instance, this relies on a federation holding custody of bitcoins, and later switch to an automatic peg, when the community accepts the security trade-offs of the automatic peg.

Smart contracts security has been the priority for Buenos Aires-based RSK since it began in 2015. One of the startup's early goals has been financial inclusion, hence smart contracts that will handle loans for financially excluded people. As such the platform has to be secure.

The open source MainNet Network is a major milestone for RSK as it lays the foundations to build a new era of the Internet-based on blockchain technology, said a statement. RSK unleashed the genesis block that kicks off the RSK MainNet network on the ninth anniversary of the Bitcoin genesis block.

Diego Gutierrez Zaldívar, RSK's CEO said: "We're very excited to share the RSK MainNet Network with the global community. It's a great milestone for the company after years of hard work, but this is not only ours, it's a community success. The RSK project belongs to the whole ecosystem and we need to work together to build the Internet of Value over the Bitcoin Network."

Together with the release of the genesis block RSK is promoting its Bug Bounty Program to reward security experts and work with the global developer community feedback. RSK also presented a full getting started guide for business partners and dApp developers.