The RSK sidechain: The first Bitcoin-based sidechain added to Multichain.

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The RSK sidechain, also known as RoAS (Recovery and Authorization of STOKE Assets) is the first Bitcoin-based sidechain which has been added to Multichain.

Multichain, a cross-chain platform, has announced the integration of the Bitcoin-based (BTC) smart contract protocol Rootstock (RSK) into its ecosystem. This will allow users to exchange Ether (ETH), USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD), and other assets between RSK, Ethereum, and BNB Chain.

In Monday's announcement, the integration was hailed as a major milestone for Multichain because it opens up access to decentralized finance (DeFi) on Bitcoin. With this addition, users can benefit from RSK's security and functionality.

The integration will enable RSK to bring Bitcoin to Multichain's ecosystem and provide access to new markets and use cases for its users. The RSK sidechain is the first Bitcoin-based sidechain that has been incorporated into Multichain. It has a unique place in the world of Bitcoin enthusiasts, as well as with EVM-powered DeFi.

The company said that its integration with Rootstock will provide fundamental benefits to RSK developers. They won't have to spend resources building bridges to capital and addressable markets, for example. They will also have a shorter time-to-market for new platforms built on RSK.

RSK users may begin transferring their ETH, USDC, BUSD, BNB, WBTC, and DAI between RSK's network and Ethereum. Multichain will add more chains and tokens to the RSK network in the coming weeks and months. RSK co-founder Diego Gutiérrez Zaldívar said:

"RSK is home to the fastest-growing DeFi for Bitcoin ecosystem with protocols that are built to last and provide real solutions to the issues users face in centralized finance."

Multichain has updated the anyCall interoperability protocol, which allows cross-chain communications and name contracts. It will be a valuable tool for building cross-chain decentralized apps on Rootstock and other supported networks.

Sergio Lerner, a Bitcoin Core developer, spent years developing Rootstock before its initial mainnet launch in January 2018. As blockchain engineer Albert Szmigielski wrote in a 2016 blog post: "Rootstock is essentially what Ethereum is, a decentralized, Turing-complete smart contract platform. However, Rootstock seeks to use the Bitcoin ecosystem rather than creating a new one from scratch."

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