How OP_NET Enables Smart Contracts on Bitcoin Without Layer 2s

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/how-op_net-enables-smart-contracts-on-bitcoin-without-layer-2s. A technical walkthrough of OP_NET smart contracts on Bitcoin L1: P2OP outputs, deterministic Wasm execution, storage pointers, fees, and security gotchas. Check more stories related to web3 at: https://hackernoon.com/c/web3. You can also check exclusive content about #smart-contracts, #bitcoin-layer-1-standard, #bitcoin-layer-2, #layer-1-solutions, #layer-1-scaling, #bitcoin-smart-contracts, #smart-contracts-without-gas, #good-company, and more. This story was written by: @opnet. Learn more about this writer by checking @opnet's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com. OP_NET introduces a new model for running smart contracts on Bitcoin by separating computation from the base layer. Contracts are compiled to WebAssembly, executed deterministically off-chain, and their results are anchored back to Bitcoin through standard transactions. This design avoids protocol changes while enabling programmable applications, tokens, and DeFi primitives directly on Bitcoin.