Arkade introduces a set of foundational primitives that reimagine Bitcoin transaction execution through virtualization. These components work together to provide instant execution, trust-minimized settlement, and scalable programmability without modifying the Bitcoin protocol.

Arkade is a offchain execution layer for Bitcoin that virtualizes transaction logic without modifying the Bitcoin protocol. It is built on top of the Ark protocol, which introduced foundational primitives like Virtual UTXOs (VTXOs).

Bitcoin’s base layer is intentionally constrained to preserve decentralization and security. Arkade complements it by enabling complex application logic—trading, lending, payments—on a scalable offchain layer, while preserving self-custody and settlement finality.

Through innovations like the Virtual Mempool, Arkade Script, and Dynamic Settlement, Arkade delivers cloud-like parallelism and composability for Bitcoin-native contracts, without soft forks, bridges, or wrapped assets. Arkade builds directly on Ark, extending its capabilities into a full virtual execution environment for complex, scalable financial applications.

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What Makes Arkade Different

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Bitcoin-Native Programmability

Arkade makes Bitcoin truly programmable. Developers can write contracts using Arkade Script, a stateful, expressive scripting language that compiles into Bitcoin-compatible execution flows. Contracts are tied directly to Bitcoin outputs, ensuring enforceability.

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Self-Custodial Security

VTXOs grant users unilateral exit rights, enforced through presigned Bitcoin transactions. All contracts are auditable, and users retain full control over their assets at all times. No bridges. No custodians. No wrapped assets.

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Parallel Execution

Arkade replaces Bitcoin’s linear mempool with a Virtual Mempool, enabling independent VTXO-based transactions to execute in parallel. This eliminates global contention and unlocks horizontal scalability for Bitcoin applications.

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Verifiable Trust

Transactions receive instant offchain preconfirmation by TEEs (Trusted Execution Environments) called Arkade Signers. These signers attest to execution integrity and reject double-spends. Finality is achieved by anchoring batches onchain via Bitcoin commitment transactions.

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Efficient Batch Settlement

Thousands of Arkade transactions compress into a single Bitcoin commitment output, dramatically reducing individual settlement costs while preserving the enforceability of each transaction through presigned exit paths.

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Use Arkade To Build:

  • Smart Wallets with programmable spending conditions leveraging secure enclaves of modern smartphones and laptops.
  • Lending Protocols using natively collateralized BTC with verifiable liquidation rules.
  • Decentralized Exchanges with high frequency cross-chain swaps.
  • AI Payments enabling autonomous machine-to-machine economies and programmable task execution
  • Margin Trading with Bitcoin with configurable leverage, without giving up self-custody of the margin collateral.

Arkade brings cloud-like scale to Bitcoin apps. No forks. No bridges. No compromises.

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Get Started

Learn the Basics

Understand the core concepts behind Arkade and how it enhances Bitcoin

Set Up a Wallet

Create your first Arkade wallet and start building

Send Payments

Learn how to send Bitcoin payments with Arkade

Receive Payments

Accept Bitcoin payments instantly with near-zero fees

Advanced Contracts

Build complex applications with Arkade’s programmable money