Matthew Vuk

Based in Waterloo, Canada, Matthew Vuk works as a researcher at Second, the company developing Ark, a Bitcoin Layer 2 payment protocol. Ark is a Layer 2 protocol that aims to enable off-chain Bitcoin transactions at very low cost, without complex pre-setup such as opening channels. It works directly on top of today's Bitcoin without consensus rule changes or new op_codes, offering easy onboarding, low and predictable fees, instant settlement, Lightning Network compatibility, and control over one's own funds. The protocol revolves around an 'Ark server': users connect to this server to transact directly with one another, and can also transact with the broader Lightning Network through the server's Lightning gateway. At the heart of Ark is a new scaling model called the 'virtual UTXO (VTXO)' — a series of pre-signed off-chain transactions that a user can broadcast on-chain to reclaim their funds at any time in an emergency.