Bitlayer Summer Launch 2025 Final Milestone

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KuCoin
@kucoincomAug 26, 2025

The Spaces featured Darren from KuCoin hosting Charlie, co-founder of Bitlayer, on the eve of Bitlayer’s token listing. Charlie traced his 10-year crypto path (Bitcoin 2013, Ethereum 2015, Polkadot, DeFi Summer, Polygon APAC) to the recent Bitcoin renaissance via Ordinals and the BitVM paper, which inspired Bitlayer’s mission: bring secure programmability to Bitcoin without sacrificing Layer-1 security. Bitlayer has launched its BVM-based trust-minimized bridge (audited, public beta) and is finalizing a Bitcoin security-equivalent rollup using recursive proofs and a Groth16 verifier. The team raised ~$30M, reached 71M tx, 220+ deployments, and ~$1B ATH TVL, with strategic backing from Franklin Templeton. A core product is yBTC (yield-bearing BTC) minted via the bridge to multiple ecosystems (e.g., Solana with Orca/Kamino, Ethereum L2s, Sui, Cardano). Bitlayer partnered with mining pools (AntPool, SpiderPool, F2Pool) as security operators to enable fraud-proof challenges, mempool prioritization, and fee-sharing, aligning miner incentives. The BTR token will power governance, validator staking/fee-sharing, and potentially gas/fee switches. Charlie emphasized that sustainable miner revenue requires real Bitcoin use cases; he expects meaningful Bitcoin DeFi adoption within 2–3 years. Community, builders, and institutions are invited to participate as Bitlayer open-sources components and expands globally.

Bitlayer x KuCoin Twitter Spaces AMA — Comprehensive Notes

Participants and Roles

  • Darren (Host, KuCoin): Moderation, structure, and audience Q&A selection; reiterated non-financial-advice disclaimer and listing campaign info.
  • Charlie (Co-founder, Bitlayer): Main guest; shared background, Bitlayer’s roadmap, tech architecture, partnerships, token utility, and vision. Mentioned co-founder Kevin.

Session Flow

  • Quick intro and agenda by Darren: personal intro, Bitlayer overview, deeper technical/business dive, then community Q&A with a giveaway thread.
  • Charlie’s background and Bitlayer origin story.
  • Why Bitcoin programmability/scaling matters and Bitlayer’s approach (bridge + rollup).
  • Partnerships (miners and multi-chain ecosystems), product (yield-bearing BTC), and status.
  • Community/Institutional plans and token utility.
  • Q&A highlights and closing.

Charlie’s Background and Path to Bitlayer

  • Entered crypto in 2013 via an Amsterdam meetup discussing Bitcoin mining; bought first BTC that year.
  • 2015: Discovered Ethereum; inspired by programmability and the “global computer” vision. Worked with Parity; early involvement in Polkadot (2017–2020) around interoperability and shared security.
  • 2020: DeFi Summer; engaged with Uniswap, Compound, Aave, etc.; saw Ethereum scalability issues firsthand.
  • 2021: Joined Polygon as Head of China/APAC, leading BD and developer relations.
  • 2023: Ordinals reignited interest in Bitcoin programmability (BRC-20, Bitmap, recursive inscriptions). Deep-dived RGB, Lightning, Nostr.
  • Oct 2023: A key whitepaper (referred to as “BVM/BitVM” in this talk) catalyzed the idea of a Bitcoin-secured programmable scaling solution. Reconnected with co-founder Kevin; started Bitlayer as a BVM/BitVM community research group (first in Asia; among the earliest globally).

Bitlayer at a Glance

  • Mission: Build a Bitcoin security-equivalent programmable rollup and a trust-minimized Bitcoin bridge to unlock BTC liquidity across ecosystems and enable Bitcoin DeFi at scale.
  • Traction/metrics (as shared):
    • ~20 months into the journey; raised ~US$30M across three rounds.
    • Mainnet v1 launched last April; >71M on-chain transactions; >220 projects deployed.
    • Peak TVL near ~US$1B; currently top in DeFiLlama TVL ranking among Bitcoin L2/BTC-Fi projects (per Charlie).
  • Strategic/partnerships: Strategic investment led by Franklin Templeton (described as a Bitcoin ETF firm); partnerships with LayerZero, Chainlink CCIP, Nansen; wallets such as OKX Wallet and others. Multiple public sale platforms including CoinList and others.
  • Token: Governance token (BTR) launching this week.

Why Bitcoin Needs Programmability/Scaling (Context and Rationale)

  • Bitcoin L1 strengths: most decentralized, most secure PoW UTXO network; 15+ years of uptime; “digital commodity” with ~multi-trillion market cap momentum (ETF approvals, regulatory clarity).
  • Bitcoin L1 limitations: 10–20 minute finality; low throughput; no native smart contracts for DeFi and complex applications.
  • Past attempts: Lightning/Nostr improved certain use cases but limited mainstream traction; Ordinals revived activity but caused congestion and high fees; still no native DeFi on L1.
  • Sidechains critique: Many Bitcoin sidechains/programmable chains settle on their own validator sets rather than Bitcoin; thus, not “true” Bitcoin L2 in Charlie’s framing.
  • Bitlayer’s aim: Preserve Bitcoin-grade security/finality while enabling EVM-like programmability and throughput via a Bitcoin security-equivalent rollup plus a third-generation, trust-minimized bridge.

Architecture and Key Components

BVM Bridge (Trust-Minimized “3rd-Gen” Bitcoin Bridge)

  • Purpose: Let BTC holders lock UTXOs on Bitcoin L1 and mint a programmatic representation on destination chains to access DeFi, with minimized trust.
  • Security model: Decentralized Security Operator Committee; any honest operator can initiate a “challenge game” (fraud-proof style) to stop malicious transactions.
  • Operators: Top Bitcoin mining pools serve as security operators, including Endpool (interpreted as AntPool), F2Pool, and SpiderPool.
  • UX and miner alignment: Mining pools process Bitlayer’s non-standard bridging transactions with higher priority in the mempool to improve UX; in return, bridging activity creates a new revenue stream for miners (fees), aligning incentives with Bitcoin’s long-term security budget.
  • Status: Public beta/production with audits completed by top firms; accessible (referral-based access initially). Additional validator/operator partners in discussion.

Bitcoin Security-Equivalent Rollup (BVM Rollup)

  • Goal: Transactions executed on Bitlayer settle to Bitcoin L1 via recursive proofs, achieving “Bitcoin security equivalence.”
  • Verifier: Developing a Bitcoin Groth16 verifier with BVM Alliance core teams.
  • Status: In final audit phase + bug bounty; intended to be launched open-source post-audit. This is positioned as a major innovation in Bitcoin over the past two years; enables Bitlayer’s “real rollup.”

Product: yBTC (Yield-Bearing BTC)

  • Concept: A yield-bearing BTC asset minted 1:1 against native BTC locked on Bitcoin L1 via the BVM Bridge.
  • Value proposition: A more decentralized, trust-minimized alternative to legacy wrapped BTC models (e.g., wBTC’s multisig, centralized custody). Aims to unlock a significant share of BTC liquidity for DeFi (aspiration cited: 10% of BTC liquidity).
  • Integrations/targets:
    • Non-Bitcoin ecosystems: Solana, Sui, Ethereum L2s (Base, Arbitrum), Starknet, Sonic, Plume, Cardano, etc.
    • Solana: Initial partners include Orca (top DEX) and Kamino (leading lending protocol); working with Solana Foundation on broader BTC-Fi initiatives.
    • Sui: Supported by Sui Foundation; yBTC deployed on multiple DeFi protocols; early but growing traction in Move-based ecosystems.
  • Roadmap: Scale yBTC minting and cross-ecosystem deployment over coming months, partnering with blue-chip DeFi to provide lending/liquidity/yield strategies to BTC holders.

Security and Miner Partnerships (Deep Dive)

  • Unprecedented collaboration: Among the first times major pools formally partner with a Bitcoin builder in this way.
  • Operators: Endpool (AntPool), F2Pool, SpiderPool currently act as BVM Bridge security operators; more major pools under discussion.
  • Mechanics: Any non-compromised operator can trigger challenges on suspicious transactions; pools prioritize Bitlayer’s bridge txs in the mempool to enhance UX.
  • Economic alignment: Bitlayer’s bridging and cross-chain activity shares fee revenues with miners—supporting a sustainable fee market as block subsidies decline.

Community, Builders, and Institutional Strategy

  • Community footprint: Large global presence across Twitter (~near 1M followers per Charlie), Discord, Telegram, Kakao, plus regional language groups. Active NFT holder and DeFi campaign programs; builder community since last year.
  • Feature prioritization: Community campaigns and protocol partnerships focus on use cases likely to achieve product-market fit on Bitlayer, then scale to the right user segments.
  • Institutional adoption: Strategic backer Franklin Templeton; ongoing discussions with global ETF issuers (e.g., 21Shares, WisdomTree) and Bitcoin treasury/public companies. Bitlayer positions itself as an infrastructure partner for future institutional BTC yield strategies.
  • Regulatory catalyst: If regulators eventually permit “yield/strategy” constructs for BTC ETFs (host referenced recent Ethereum staking ETF progress), it could unlock mainstream BTC-Fi. Bitlayer is preparing to be an on-ramp partner for such institutions.

Stance on the Bitcoin Community and “Maxis”

  • Diversity of views: Some OGs/miners actively support Bitlayer as investors, LPs, and partners; others oppose non-monetary use cases on Bitcoin.
  • Charlie’s argument: Bitcoin’s long-term sustainability requires real network usage and fees, especially as halvings reduce block subsidies. Enabling permissionless, market-driven use cases aligns with Satoshi’s vision and sustains miner incentives/security.
  • Cultural contrast: Charlie frames Bitcoin as a free-market ecosystem without an active founder-center of gravity; solutions compete on their merits and demand.

Token (BTR) — Utility and Economics

  • Core utilities:
    1. Governance: BTR holders vote on network parameters and roadmap.
    2. Staking/Validation: Staked BTR can enable holders to become validators (over time, as the set is opened), sharing in network and gas-fee revenues.
    3. Gas fee switch: Today, wrapped BTC bridged to Bitlayer L2 is used for gas. In the future, BTR may be enabled as a gas token to expand utility.
  • Tokenomics: Full article to be published soon. Goal is a healthy transaction-fee flywheel that rewards validators (ultimately BTR stakers) as real usage scales.

Notable Metrics and Claims (from the talk)

  • Funding: ~$30M across three rounds.
  • Network usage: >71M transactions; >220 deployments; peak TVL near ~$1B; top on DeFiLlama among BTC L2/BTC-Fi per Charlie.
  • Strategic investors/partners: Franklin Templeton; Chainlink CCIP, LayerZero, Nansen; OKX Wallet and other Web3 wallets; multiple public sale platforms including CoinList.

Risks, Dependencies, and Open Items (as discussed or implied)

  • Rollup launch pending: Bitcoin Groth16 verifier and rollup are in final audits/bug bounty; true “security-equivalent” rollup launches post-audit.
  • Operator set dependency: Bridge security currently relies on a committee model; continued decentralization and diversity of operators is important.
  • Cross-ecosystem delivery: Multi-chain integrations (Solana, Sui, Ethereum L2s, etc.) and blue-chip DeFi partnerships are in active rollout—execution/traction remain key.
  • Regulatory uncertainty: Institutional BTC yield/ETF mechanisms remain subject to regulatory approvals and frameworks.

Vision and Outlook

  • 2–3 year horizon: Significant, daily-use Bitcoin DeFi is achievable with current momentum; real fee markets will help sustain network security as halvings proceed.
  • BTC holders: Can put BTC to work (lending/liquidity/staking strategies via yBTC and partner protocols) while retaining Bitcoin-grade settlement via Bitlayer’s architecture.
  • Conferences and news: Expect major announcements; presence at key industry events (e.g., Korea Blockchain Week).

Q&A Highlights

  • Token use beyond governance: Governance voting; staking to become validators and share in network/gas revenues; potential future use as gas on Bitlayer L2. Tokenomics paper forthcoming.
  • Community involvement: Global social channels, NFT and DeFi campaigns, builder programs since last year. Community influence through governance and ecosystem growth initiatives; upcoming strategies to onboard new use cases and unlock more BTC liquidity via BVM Bridge and yBTC.

Closing Notes

  • Charlie emphasized Bitlayer’s goal to “make history for Bitcoin” by bringing mass adoption of Bitcoin DeFi without compromising security. Bitcoin is “here to stay” and remains a winning asset; Bitlayer aims to extend Bitcoin’s utility as a network.
  • Darren reiterated: follow official Bitlayer accounts directly from the space for links; participate in the listing campaign; none of the discussion is financial advice.