For Solana Developers
A migration guide for Solana developers — port your Anchor programs to Bitcoin via Arch's Satellite framework.
If you've built on Solana using Anchor, you already know most of what you need to build on Arch. The ArchVM runtime is Solana-compatible, and Arch's Satellite framework lets you port existing Anchor programs to Bitcoin with minimal changes.
What's the Same
- Rust-based programs using the Anchor framework
- Account model structure — programs, accounts, and instructions map directly
- Familiar tooling — build, test, and deploy workflows will feel natural
- Program Derived Addresses (PDAs) work the same way
What's Different
- Settlement is on Bitcoin — execution output is native Bitcoin transactions, not Solana transactions
- UTXO-aware execution — the ArchVM manages Bitcoin UTXOs directly, which affects how state is handled
- Threshold signatures — transactions are signed by validators using FROST/ROAST, not single-signer
- No token program — Arch works with native BTC and Runes, not SPL tokens
Satellite Framework
Satellite is Arch's migration framework for Solana developers. It provides compatibility layers that let you take an existing Anchor program and deploy it on Arch with minimal modifications:
- Install the Satellite CLI alongside your existing Anchor project
- Update your program's dependencies to use Arch's SDK instead of Solana's
- Adjust UTXO-specific logic (Satellite provides helpers for common patterns)
- Build and deploy to Arch's testnet
For detailed migration steps, code examples, and common patterns, see the Satellite Framework documentation.
Getting Started
The fastest path is to start with the Satellite quickstart template, which includes a working Anchor-to-Arch example program. From there, consult the Architecture Overview for how Arch's runtime differs from Solana's, and the Developers section for Arch-specific APIs and tooling.