1 day ago
Bitlayer, a Bitcoin decentralized concern (DeFi) infrastructure startup backed by Franklin Templeton, has launched its astute declaration span connected mainnet, aiming to marque Bitcoin much interoperable crossed aggregate blockchain networks.
The bridge, called BitVM, is described by the institution arsenic a “trust-minimized bridging solution for Bitcoin holders.” It enables users to deposit Bitcoin (BTC) into a astute contract, wherever it is held successful escrow and converted into Peg-BTC (YBTC), a tokenized mentation of Bitcoin that tin interact with astute declaration platforms.
According to Bitlayer, Peg-BTC is designed to facilitate programmability and crosschain compatibility. The institution has already secured partnerships to integrate the span with networks including Sui, Base, and Arbitrum.
A Bitlayer spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the caller span is intended to “complement Bitcoin’s DeFi ecosystem by making autochthonal BTC liquidity accessible connected networks that enactment astute contracts and much analyzable applications, without requiring changes to Bitcoin’s basal layer.”
Security has been a interest for crosschain bridges, which are often targeted by hackers owed to exploitable vulnerabilities. In 2022, a hacker stole $321 cardinal from a Wormhole bridge, though implicit $225 cardinal was aboriginal recouped.
According to Bitlayer, its span was built connected erstwhile models’ spot assumptions to beef up security. Whereas galore bridges trust connected a multisig spot model, BitVM uses a azygous signer.
Related: A beginner's usher to the Bitcoin Taproot upgrade
Bitcoin DeFi protocols emergence aft Taproot, Inscriptions
While different blockchains specified arsenic Ethereum and Solana are much known for decentralized finance, the world’s oldest nationalist blockchain has been attracting much DeFi protocols lately. For galore Bitcoin investors, the tantalizing anticipation of earning output connected their coins has whetted an appetite for these services.
Bitlayer’s competitors successful the Bitcoin DeFi abstraction see BabylonChain, a proof-of-stake protocol that allows for investors to involvement Bitcoin, Stacks, which rewards Bitcoin miners and BounceBit, which is simply a restaking protocol wherein users tin delegate wrapped BTC to node operators.
As of Tuesday, the Bitlayer protocol has $384 cardinal successful worth locked onchain, generating $1.7 cardinal successful fees successful June. The Babylon Protocol has a overmuch greater TVL, with $5.2 cardinal locked connected the network.
Babylon Protocol TVL implicit time. Source: DefiLlama
There are presently astir 30 DeFi projects gathering wrong the Bitcoin ecosystem, a inclination accelerated by 2 large developments: the Taproot upgrade and the instauration of Inscriptions.
Taproot, implemented successful November 2021, enhanced Bitcoin’s scripting capabilities, paving the mode for much scalable and privacy-focused applications.
Inscriptions, popularized with the motorboat of the Ordinals protocol successful aboriginal 2023, allowed users to embed arbitrary data, including images and code, straight onto the BTC network, unlocking caller usage cases for Bitcoin.
Magazine: Pakistan volition deploy Bitcoin reserve successful DeFi for yield, says Bilal Bin Saqib
English (US) 