Here is a very interesting article coming from the Bitcoin Magazine about the Bitcoin Network and how to build applications on top of it.
CAN YOU BUILD ON THE BITCOIN BLOCKCHAIN?
The short answer is, “Yes, you can build on top of Bitcoin.” The longer answer is what we’re about to discuss in the next section of this article.
Unless a radical change happens, Bitcoin’s base layer won’t change to allow for the development of complex applications. Given the Bitcoin community’s cautious approach to upgrades, we can expect this to be the case for a while.
Rather, building on the Bitcoin blockchain is possible by employing scaling solutions that aim to improve the system’s scalability and functionality. Also called Layer 2 technologies, scaling solutions abstract some tasks away from the base layer, but depend on it for security and immutability.
Let’s look at some of the Layer 2 solutions for building on the Bitcoin blockchain.