What Is Miniscript?
Miniscript is a language for writing Bitcoin Scripts in a structured way that makes them easier to write, analyze, and verify. It acts as a higher-level abstraction over raw Bitcoin Script, enabling safer and more composable spending conditions while maintaining compatibility with the Bitcoin protocol.
Human-Readable Scripts
Miniscript translates complex spending conditions into readable expressions like "A AND (B OR (C AND older(1000)))", which can then be compiled into efficient Bitcoin Script. This makes it much easier to understand and verify what conditions must be met to spend funds.
Key Benefits
Safer Smart Contracts
Miniscript provides static analysis tools that can verify scripts are spendable, non-malleable, and efficient before deployment. This prevents costly errors in complex spending scripts.
Composability
Different spending policies can be combined and nested in a modular way. This enables sophisticated setups like timelocked backups, multi-path spending conditions, and flexible multi-signature schemes.
Miniscript integrates well with descriptor wallets, PSBTs, and modern Bitcoin features like Taproot. It's becoming increasingly important for advanced Bitcoin applications and custody solutions.
Quick Facts
- •Developed by Pieter Wuille, Andrew Poelstra, and Sanket Kanjalkar
- •Enables formal analysis of scripts
- •Supported in Bitcoin Core and hardware wallets