Drivechain
A proposed Bitcoin sidechain framework in which Bitcoin miners, rather than a separate federation, vote to approve peg-ins and peg-outs between the mainchain and sidechains.
Drivechain is a proposed framework for Bitcoin sidechains (see Kaavon's "Sidechain" glossary definition) in which Bitcoin's own miners, rather than a separate, dedicated federation, are responsible for approving the two-way peg (see Kaavon's "Two-Way Peg" glossary definition) transfers moving funds between the Bitcoin mainchain and a connected sidechain. Miners signal approval of withdrawal requests from a sidechain over an extended observation period, during which the community can raise objections to a suspicious or fraudulent withdrawal before it's finalized.
This design aims to avoid the federated peg (see Kaavon's "Federated Peg" glossary definition) trust model's reliance on a small, fixed group of signers, instead distributing peg-approval authority across Bitcoin's broader, more decentralized mining ecosystem — though critics have raised concerns about whether this appropriately incentivizes miners, who aren't necessarily sidechain experts, to carefully evaluate withdrawal legitimacy, and about the new responsibilities and potential centralization pressures it could place on mining pools. Drivechain remains a proposed, debated design rather than an activated part of the Bitcoin protocol.
Examples
- Under Drivechain, a sidechain withdrawal would need sustained miner approval signaling over an extended period before being finalized, giving the community a window to object to a fraudulent request.
- Drivechain's miner-based peg approval is a different trust model than a federated peg's small group of dedicated signers, trading one set of tradeoffs for another.