Robin Linus
Stuff I like
Bitcoin. A math-based money anchored into physics. A machine producing an incorruptible truth. A solid foundation for healthy societies.
- Applied cryptography. Usability and scalability research
- Open source software engineering
- Product design, development, and simplicity
Some stuff I do
- ZeroSync: A STARK proof to verify Bitcoin's chain state in an instant.
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BitVM:
Compute Anything on Bitcoin
. -
BitVM Bridge:
Bridging Bitcoin to Second Layers
. A collaboration with Matteo Maffei and his Security and Privacy group at TU Wien. - Stakechains: A Bitcoin-backed proof-of-stake algorithm based on one-time Schnorr signatures (presented at CoDecFin'22). Also co-authored a research paper on this topic with David Tse and his group at Stanford University.
- zkCoins: A payment system with strong privacy and scalability, combining a client-side validation protocol with validity proofs. Co-authored a research paper on this topic with Liam Eagen and Jonas Nick from Blockstream Research.
- BitStream: Decentralized file hosting incentivised via Bitcoin payments.
- I am a Ph.D. Student at Stanford University, focusing on the scalability, privacy, and usability of Bitcoin.
Other stuff I did for fun
Bitcoin
- Designing protocols on top of Bitcoin such as improved stealth addresses, light clients, or an OR operator for DLCs and PTLCs based on verifiable encryption.
- Some Day Peg: Betting on the activation of a two-way peg bridging BTC to other chains. Co-created with Burak and Super Testnet.
- Bitcoin DEX (backend is down). A trading protocol based on non-interactive atomic swaps using sighash_single. A Bitcoin SPV client in Solidity for a trustless two-way peg between Ethereum and Bitcoin.
- Simple Bitcoin web app. Usability research on key management, using secure key generation from email and password via a WarpWallet, and storing credentials in the Browser's password manager. A related work is Secure Bookmarks, co-created with Egor Homakov.
- Exotic Bitcoin Scripts such as TicTacToe in a Schnorr signature, or nondeterministic programming.
- OP_CAT magic such as Merkle inclusion proofs, emulating covenants using ECDSA, emulating EC multiplication, and exploring Evil Covenants.
- Dark Skippy: A novel mechanism for key exfiltration attacks. Co-created with Lloyd Fournier and Nick Farrow.
Side Projects
- SnapDrop: share files on your local network. Had millions of monthly users since its launch in 2016.
- Raised awareness for known privacy issues in browsers and web platforms (e.g. Github, StackOverflow, Instagram) to create public awareness to fix them. E.g. "webkay" and "social media leak".
- Discovered security bugs in major software products and received bug bounties from companies like Google, Twitter, and Apple.