DEV Community

Cover image for Bitcoin Script Doesn’t Execute What’s on the Stack: A Developer’s Journey From Misconception to…
aaron.recompile
aaron.recompile

Posted on • Originally published at Medium

Bitcoin Script Doesn’t Execute What’s on the Stack: A Developer’s Journey From Misconception to…

#bitcoin 
HODLing is the beginning.
But Bitcoin was meant to be programmed.

"Not Just HODLing: Real Bitcoin Script Engineering" starts here.
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

“Why does the redeemScript in a P2SH transaction get executed after hash comparison?”

“Can’t I just duplicate it before hashing, so it’s still on the stack and ready to be executed?”

That’s what I used to think — until I truly understood Bitcoin Script’s execution model.

This article documents a subtle misconception I had while learning P2SH, and how I reasoned my way out of it.

❓ The Misconception: Scripts on the Stack Should Execute

When I first studied Pay-to-Script-Hash (P2SH), I thought:

“If I push onto the stack, then use OP_DUP + OP_HASH160 to check the hash, one copy of redeemScript will remain on the stack. Can’t we just continue execution from there?”

This logic might make sense in a generic stack-based language like Forth. But in Bitcoin Script, it doesn’t work that way.

🔍 The Truth: Bitcoin Script Never Executes Stack Data as Code

In Bitcoin Script:

Only the instructions written in the script body are executed. Anything on the stack is treated as data, not executable code.

That means:

  • Even if you push a full redeemScript onto the stack, it won’t be interpreted as code.

  • There’s no EVAL opcode.

  • Nothing in the language will “run” a script fragment stored on the stack.

✅ Then How Does P2SH Work?

This is where Bitcoin’s consensus rules, not the script language itself, step in.

Here’s what actually happens in a P2SH spend:

  1. The scriptSig is executed, pushing onto the stack.

  2. The scriptPubKey (which looks like OP_HASH160 OP_EQUAL) is run.

  3. If the hash of redeemScript matches, Bitcoin Core pulls out the redeemScript from the stack and executes it as a brand new script.

  4. The redeemScript gets executed not because it’s “still on the stack”, but because the Bitcoin engine explicitly takes it out and runs it.

🧪 A Common Mistake: Demonstrated and Corrected

Let’s look at a broken example of stack state during hash comparison:

❌ Incorrect Version:

### 4. PUSH_EXPECTED_HASH  
| 2a873f3c...890fb2 (expected_hash)       |
| c5b28d6b...890fb2 (redeem_script_hash)  |
| 30450220...78c201 (signature)           |
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode 
### 5. OP_EQUAL  
| TRUE (hash_match) ← ❌ Impossible!      |
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

These two hash values are different. OP_EQUAL cannot return TRUE.

✅ Correct Version: 

### 4. PUSH_EXPECTED_HASH  
| c5b28d6b...890fb2 (expected_hash)       |
| c5b28d6b...890fb2 (redeem_script_hash)  |
| 30450220...78c201 (signature)           |
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode 
### 5. OP_EQUAL  
| TRUE (hash_match)                       |
| 30450220...78c201 (signature)           |
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Only when the redeemScript hash exactly matches the expected value does execution proceed.

✨ My Moment of Clarity

I used to think:

“If the script is still on the stack, Bitcoin will just continue executing it.”

But the reality is:

“Bitcoin Core explicitly extracts the redeemScript from scriptSig and *runs it as a new script*, after verifying its hash.”

This isn’t something the scripting language does. It’s something the consensus engine does.

🧠 Why This Matters for Developers

Bitcoin Script is linear and explicit. It does not support:

  • Arbitrary control flow

  • Self-modifying or self-evaluating code

  • Executing values from the stack as new scripts

If you want something executed, it must be written into the script body — or explicitly injected by consensus rules (like P2SH or Taproot).

🖼️ Bonus: Realistic P2SH Execution Stack Diagram

Here’s a full breakdown of what actually happens during a standard P2SH spend with a CSV timelock:

🔵 P2SH Validation Phase: Executing

scriptSig + scriptPubKey

1. PUSH_SIGNATURE 

| 30450220…78c201 (signature)             |
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

2. PUSH_REDEEMSCRIPT 

| 5121028a…91f2ac (redeem_script)         |
| 30450220…78c201 (signature)             |
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

3. OP_HASH160 

| c5b28d6b…890fb2 (redeem_script_hash)    |
| 30450220…78c201 (signature)             |
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

4. PUSH_EXPECTED_HASH 

| c5b28d6b…890fb2 (expected_hash)         |
| c5b28d6b…890fb2 (redeem_script_hash)    |
| 30450220…78c201 (signature)             |
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

5. OP_EQUAL 

| TRUE (hash_match)                       |
| 30450220…78c201 (signature)             |
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

(redeemScript successfully validated)

🟢 Redeem Script Execution Phase

Bitcoin Core now begins interpreting redeemScript as a new script:

0140
OP_CHECKSEQUENCEVERIFY
OP_DROP
028a9f4c...91f2
OP_CHECKSIG
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

6. PUSH_DELAY 

| 0140 (csv_delay)                        |
| 30450220…78c201 (signature)             |
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

7. OP_CHECKSEQUENCEVERIFY 

| 0140 (csv_delay)                        |
| 30450220…78c201 (signature)             |
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

8. OP_DROP 

| 30450220…78c201 (signature)             |
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

9. PUSH_PUBKEY 

| 028a9f4c…91f2 (public_key)              |
| 30450220…78c201 (signature)             |
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

10. OP_CHECKSIG 

|  TRUE (signature_valid)                 |
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

🧾 Summary

  • ✅ Stack data is not executable

  • ✅ P2SH works via consensus-layer script injection

  • ✅ Misunderstanding stack/code separation leads to broken assumptions

Bitcoin Script doesn’t let you “leave code on the stack and hope it runs”. Execution must be explicit, linear, and structured.

This is the essence of Real Bitcoin Script Engineering. All code and on-chain data analysis are available at my github repo. Feel free to Star and Fork!

By Aaron Recompile on July 13, 2025.

Canonical link

Exported from Medium on July 3, 2026.

Top comments (0)