Sidechain

Definition

A sidechain is a separate blockchain connected to another network through a mechanism for transferring or representing assets. It can offer different execution capabilities, block timing, or transaction rules while maintaining its own ledger and consensus arrangements. Moving BTC into a Bitcoin-related sidechain usually involves a peg or bridge that controls how the original coins are locked and how they can be released. The sidechain asset is therefore subject to additional assumptions beyond Bitcoin's ordinary spending rules. Some sidechains use merged mining, while others rely on validators or federations; sharing some infrastructure does not make every design equally secure. A sidechain should not automatically be described as inheriting all base-chain security or as a rollup. The critical questions concern validation, withdrawal authorization, operator control, and what happens when the bridge or sidechain stops functioning. Those details determine the practical relationship between the two networks.