The Plan ₿ Academy Developer Track masterclasses are designed as a progressive journey through Bitcoin's layered architecture. Each session builds upon the previous, guiding you from the bedrock of the Bitcoin protocol to the cutting edge of privacy-preserving smart contracts.
Bitcoin is an evolving stack of protocols, each layer addressing a specific set of tradeoffs between security, speed, privacy, and programmability. Understanding this layered architecture is the key to becoming a competent Bitcoin developer.
Just as the internet is built on layers (physical cables, TCP/IP, HTTP, application protocols), Bitcoin's ecosystem follows the same principle. The base layer provides maximum security and decentralization. Each layer above trades some of those guarantees for specific capabilities: faster payments, programmable assets, enhanced privacy, or richer smart contract functionality.
This masterclass series is structured to mirror that stack. We start at the bottom, with the internet infrastructure that carries Bitcoin's data and the Bitcoin protocol itself, then ascend through each layer, ending with client-side validated smart contracts that represent the frontier of what's possible on Bitcoin without sacrificing its core properties.
Our speakers are builders: core contributors, protocol designers, and lead engineers at the open-source projects and companies that define Bitcoin's technical landscape. They bring both the depth of understanding and the practical experience of shipping code that millions of users depend on.
A guided ascent through Bitcoin's protocol stack, from the physical network to programmable money.
The immutable foundation. This session covers Bitcoin's consensus mechanism, transaction structure, script system, and the peer-to-peer network that makes it all work. You'll understand how blocks are validated, how transactions propagate, and what it means to contribute to Bitcoin Core, one of the most adversarially reviewed open-source projects in history. Everything above depends on this layer being solid.
Jon Atack — Bitcoin Core ContributorBitcoin doesn't exist in a vacuum, it rides on the internet. This session explores the physical and logical infrastructure that keeps Bitcoin running: node deployment, network topology, Tor and privacy-preserving connectivity, hardware solutions, and the importance of sovereign infrastructure. Understanding Layer 0 means understanding why running your own node matters and how to do it properly.
Keto — nodlThe first major scaling layer. Lightning enables instant, low-cost Bitcoin payments through a network of payment channels. This session dives into the protocol specifications (BOLTs), channel management, routing algorithms, and the architecture of LND — one of the most widely deployed Lightning implementations. You'll understand how millions of payments happen off-chain while inheriting Bitcoin's security guarantees.
Hannah Rosenberg — Lightning LabsThe bridges between layers. Submarine swaps, atomic swaps, and reverse swaps enable trustless movement of value between on-chain Bitcoin, Lightning, and Liquid without requiring trust in a third party. This session covers the cryptographic primitives (HTLCs, preimage reveals) and the practical engineering behind Boltz — the leading non-custodial swap infrastructure that connects Bitcoin's layers into a seamless experience.
Michael — BoltzA federated sidechain that extends Bitcoin's capabilities. Liquid enables confidential transactions, faster settlement, and asset issuance while being pegged to Bitcoin. This session focuses on the developer experience: how to build applications using the Breez SDK and Liquid integration, manage L-BTC, and leverage confidential transactions. It's where the sidechain model meets practical mobile and payment-app development.
Yse — Breez SDK / LiquidA new approach to scaling Bitcoin. Ark introduces the concept of virtual UTXOs (VTXOs) managed by an Ark Service Provider, enabling off-chain transactions with unilateral exit guarantees. Unlike Lightning, Ark doesn't require inbound liquidity, making it more accessible for receivers. This session covers the protocol design, its tradeoffs compared to Lightning, and how Ark Labs is building the reference implementation.
Tiero (Marco) — Ark LabsPrivacy as a protocol. Chaumian e-cash, first proposed by David Chaum in 1982, is now being implemented on top of Bitcoin through Cashu. Blind signatures ensure that the mint (custodian) cannot link tokens to their origin, providing true transactional privacy. This session covers the cryptographic foundations, the NUT specifications, how mints operate, and the tradeoffs of custodial privacy vs. self-custody. It's where cypherpunk ideals meet practical engineering.
Calle — Cashu CreatorSmart contracts on Bitcoin, done right. RGB uses client-side validation and single-use seals (a concept from Peter Todd) to enable Turing-complete smart contracts without bloating the Bitcoin blockchain. State is kept off-chain, validated by the parties involved, and anchored to Bitcoin transactions. This session covers the architecture, the schema system, how assets and contracts are issued, and what makes RGB fundamentally different from other smart contract platforms. The capstone of the layered journey.
Federico Tenga — Bitfinex / RGBEvery masterclass in this series shares a common thread: protocols are built in layers, and each layer inherits from and extends the one below.
Bitcoin's base layer provides the ultimate settlement guarantee — censorship-resistant, immutable, globally verifiable. But it's deliberately limited: ~7 transactions per second, 10-minute confirmation times, a simple scripting language. These constraints are not flaws; they are design choices that preserve decentralization.
Every layer above Bitcoin exists because developers recognized a specific need that couldn't (or shouldn't) be solved at the base layer:
Our speakers understand the theory and practice it on a daily basis. They've written the code, designed the protocols, and shipped the products. This masterclass series gives you direct access to their expertise, with a structure that ensures each session amplifies the previous one.
By the end of the eight sessions, you won't just know what these technologies do. You'll understand why they exist, how they fit together, and where the boundaries and tradeoffs lie. That's what it means to think in layers.
The Developer Track masterclasses run from February 24 to March 19, 2026, with two sessions per week (Tuesday and Thursday). All sessions are conducted remotely and are part of the Plan ₿ Academy 2026 program.
Explore each speaker's background, contributions, and recommended resources.
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