The easy assumption about the Vault Provider in Trustless Bitcoin Vaults (TBV) is that its a required intermediary wearing a decentralized costume, the party a depositor quietly depends on no matter what the marketing says. That framing doesnt survive the actor documentation, becuase the role turns out to be optional in the most literal sense available. A depositor can run their own Vault Provider node and use it as their vaults provider from peg-in onward.
The protocol makes no distinction between a self-hosted provider and a commercial one. Registration works the same, an ethereum address, a bitcoin x-only public key, and a BIP-322 proof of possession. The ACK flows and signature exchanges work the same. Everything the role does, driving peg-in coordination, generating the redemption proofs at peg-out, broadcasting the bitcoin-side claim transactions, is operational work that any correctly configured node performs, which is precisely why nothing about it requires a third party.
What remains for commercial providers is convenience competing on commission and reliability, the same way anyone can run their own mail server yet most people dont. The difference is the option reshapes the trust question even for those who never exercise it, since a service you could replace tomorrow negotiates very differently than one you cant.
How many depositors would actually self-host, and does that number even matter as long as the door stays open?
#baby @BabylonLabs_io $BABY
The protocol makes no distinction between a self-hosted provider and a commercial one. Registration works the same, an ethereum address, a bitcoin x-only public key, and a BIP-322 proof of possession. The ACK flows and signature exchanges work the same. Everything the role does, driving peg-in coordination, generating the redemption proofs at peg-out, broadcasting the bitcoin-side claim transactions, is operational work that any correctly configured node performs, which is precisely why nothing about it requires a third party.
What remains for commercial providers is convenience competing on commission and reliability, the same way anyone can run their own mail server yet most people dont. The difference is the option reshapes the trust question even for those who never exercise it, since a service you could replace tomorrow negotiates very differently than one you cant.
How many depositors would actually self-host, and does that number even matter as long as the door stays open?
#baby @BabylonLabs_io $BABY