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ARK v0.4 | New Address Encoding, Ark Notes, and announcing Market Hours

· 3 min read
Pietralberto Mazza
Pietralberto Mazza
Ark Labs

Photo by Sarah Mae Photo by Sarah Mae on Unsplash

We're pleased to announce the release of Ark v0.4. This update brings new features and improvements continuing our ongoing efforts to refine and enhance the Ark ecosystem.

🎉 What's New?​

🔐 New Address Encoding​

We've made a significant change to our address encoding format. Instead of encoding user and server public keys, we now encode the VTXO output script (Taproot key) and server public key. This change allows users to generate custom addresses, unlocking a world of possibilities. And like in Bitcoin, the VTXO output script is revealed only when it's spent so you can always receive off-chain via Ark. This change paves the way for more innovative applications and use cases built on Bitcoin with the Ark Protocol.

📝 Ark Notes​

Introducing Ark Notes, a feature designed for users who may not be online frequently. Here's how it works:

  • Clients can share a Nostr public key (profile) for each of their VTXOs
  • When users go offline, the Server will print notes worth their unspent swept VTXOs
  • Users can restore their off-chain balances when they come back online in the future

The beauty of these notes is that they can be sent digitally or printed on paper, providing a tangible and flexible way to represent and transfer off-chain balances.

⏰ Market Hours​

Ark faces a bootstrap issue where transaction costs can be high when there are few participants. Additionally, efficient cost-sharing among users is crucial for the network's success.

To tackle these challenges, we've drawn inspiration from traditional markets in town squares, where buyers and sellers gather at specific times to conduct business more efficiently.

Market Hours in Ark work as follows:

  • They are specific periods during which the server will offer lower service fees for users joining rounds
  • This feature allows users to schedule their settlements at predetermined times in the future, potentially saving on fees
  • By concentrating activity during these periods, we aim to increase the number of participants in each round, leading to more efficient cost-sharing and lower fees for all users

In v0.4, we implemented the announcement of Market Hours, laying the groundwork for full implementation in a future release.

🛠️ Server Improvements​

We've also made several enhancements to the Ark Server:

  • Connection of the internal Bitcoin wallet to bitcoind with ZMQ (#286)
  • Support for restoration of the internal Bitcoin wallet (#332)
  • Auto-unlock feature for the internal wallet (#347)
  • Increased testing surface for improved reliability (#339)
  • Consolidation of APIs, including renaming of RPCs and message fields for better consistency (#387)

These improvements contribute to a more robust and reliable Ark Server.

🚀 Getting Started​

To start leveraging these exciting new features in Ark v0.4, update your installations and check out our updated documentation for detailed guides on how to implement and use these new capabilities.

🔎 What's Next​

As we continue to develop Ark, here's an exciting update that is coming soon:

Enhanced VTXO Tree Signing Scheme​

We're also working on updating our VTXO tree signing scheme. This change is designed to unlock liquidity before shared output expiration, which should improve the overall sustainability of the Ark Server.

These developments are part of our ongoing efforts to refine and enhance the Ark protocol. We'll provide more details on this feature in the following articles.