Bitcoin Layer2 is ushering in a financing boom, here’s an overview of 20 early-stage projects
After the inscription craze has temporarily come to an end, Bitcoin Layer 2 people are placed with high hopes of taking over the prosperity of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Currently, Bitcoin Layer 2 is showing a momentum similar to that of Ethereum Layer 2, attracting a large number of entrepreneurs. In addition to the well-known Layer 2 protocols such as Lightning network, Liquid Network, and Stacks, the Bitcoin ecosystem has also seen the emergence of a large number of new projects claiming to be Bitcoin Layer 2, such as B² Network, BEVM, Dovi_L2, and Map Protocol.
Du Jun, the co-founder of ABCDE Capital and Huobi, said that he will bring 50 million US dollars to deeply participate in the construction of the Bitcoin ecosystem, and Bitcoin Layer 2 is the preferred track.
Bitcoin Layer 2 is also experiencing a financing boom and is favored by investors.
Recently, the Bitcoin Layer 2 network Bitfinity completed $7 million in Token financing at a valuation of $130 million, with participation from Polychain Capital and others.
Domo, the founder of Bounce Finance and Brc-20, participated in the angel round financing of Nubit, the Bitcoin data availability layer. Some crypto users regard Nubit as the Bitcoin ecological version of “Celestia”.
After Inscription created a new asset issuance method, how can Bitcoin Layer 2 expand more functions and ecology beyond payment for the Bitcoin network, and can they replicate the prosperity of Ethereum Layer 2.
ChainCatcher has systematically reviewed the current Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions and representative projects and their progress. The article is divided into two parts. We will discuss the content in the previous part.“Bitcoin Layer 2 is blooming, an overview of the progress of 6 major mainstream protocols”This article introduces the progress of the leading Bitcoin Layer 2 protocol; this article is the next part, which mainly summarizes the outline of 20 early Bitcoin Layer 2 projects.
20 Early Bitcoin Layer 2 Things to Watch
In mid-2023, Ethereum founder Vitalik suggested in a Twitter Space about the Bitcoin ecosystem that Bitcoin is not just a payment method, it requires scaling solutions like Plasma or ZK Rollup. Optimism and Arbitrum are two successful Rollups that serve as case studies for Bitcoin.
Judging from some Bitcoin layer2 projects that have emerged in the past two years, it is true that many projects have adopted expansion plans like Rollup. At the same time, many projects also emphasize EVM compatibility. In addition, there are some Bitcoin layer2 that combine AI narrative.
1、Rollup
B² Network was established in 2022. B² Network is a Bitcoin second-layer network developed based on ZK-Rollup. It is compatible with EVM and enables EVM ecological developers to seamlessly deploy DApps.
B² Network participated in the road show of ABCDE’s Bitcoin ecological project in November 2023 and finally received investment. According to ABCDE, the core members of the B² Network technical team are active members of mainstream Web3 open source communities such as Ethereum, Bitcoin, Cosmos, and Sui, and have received multiple Grant support. The team is good at blockchain Layer1, Layer2, cross-chain, account abstraction and other Web3 Infra products, and has mature engineering capabilities.
On December 18, 2023, B² Network announced the launch of the Alpha test network MYTICA for partners and openly recruited ecological developers. Partners and developers can deploy DApps on the B² Network test network.
B² Network ecological project cross-chain protocol Meson has deployed the stable currency USDC on the B² Network Alpha test network. Meson is a cross-chain protocol that focuses on speed, stability, security and low fees. It supports the free circulation of mainstream digital assets such as ETH, BNB, USDC, and USDT between B² Network and more than 30 mainstream public chains.
On January 3, B² Network announced a $1 million donation plan to incentivize ecological builders.
BL2（BL2T ）
BL2 is a Bitcoin ZK-Rollup Layer2, built based on the VM universal protocol and the DA layer of the modular blockchain Celestia. It introduces ZK-Rollup into Bitcoin and implements multi-node ZK verification on the Layer2 network, and supports the inscription chain. Backup and cross-chain.
BL2 launched the BRC-20 token $BL2T, with a total supply of 21 million, which is used for L2 governance of the BTC network, and 20% is used for gas fixed destruction. On January 8, BL2 conducted an IDO on Turtsat at a price of 30 Sats (approximately 0.013U).
Founded in 2022, Chainway is a blockchain infrastructure company focusing on Bitcoin, Ethereum and zero-knowledge technologies. Chainway developed Bitcoin’s ZK Rollup, browser extension tool OrdinalSafe, and zk tool Proof of Innocence.
Chainway recently stated on its official social media that it plans to launch the Bitcoin ZK Rollup public mainnet in 2024 and establish a Bitcoin ZK Rollup community.
Founded in 2023, Bison is a Bitcoin-native zk-rollup that increases transaction speed while enabling advanced features on native Bitcoin. Developers can use zk-rollup to build innovative DeFi solutions such as trading platforms, lending services, and automated market makers.
Bison also participated in the roadshow of the ABCDE Bitcoin ecological project. According to reports, the Bison solution uses zero-knowledge proofs and Ordinals for fast and secure transactions. All data is anchored back to Bitcoin for enhanced security. Bison can achieve 2,200 transactions per second, and its fee is 1/36 of Bitcoin.
The Bison team includes Starknet’s own code contributors.
Founded in 2023 and developed by Layer 1 blockchain Syscoin (SYS), Rollux is an Optimistic rollup equivalent to EVM that inherits the security of Bitcoin’s mining network and Syscoin’s Layer 1 data availability.
It is reported that Syscoin announced in June 2022 that it had received a US$20 million ecological development fund from the cryptocurrency exchange MEXC.
Rollux will be launched on the mainnet in June 2023 and stated that it plans to switch from Optimistic Rollup to ZK-based Rollup. Rollux has not launched a new token yet, but uses Syscoin as the Gas token.
Founded in 2020, BOB (Build On Bitcoin) is an EVM rollup stack with native Bitcoin support. It allows developers to build decentralized applications on top of Ordinals, Lightning, and Nostr.
Currently, BOB has launched a public test network, which is running in real time on the Sepolia Ethereum test network. According to the roadmap on the BOB official website, BOB will first integrate the security of Bitcoin through PoW heavy staking and upgrade Optimistic Rollup to ZK proof.
Hacash.com was founded in 2022. Compared with side chains and simple OP/ZK Roll-up, the solution proposed by Hacash.com looks like the “ultimate stitch monster” because it both establishes state channels and performs multi-layer expansion. (no derogatory meaning). Different from the two-way transmission side chain, the Hacash principle is to realize the one-way transfer of Bitcoin in Layer1, that is, without changing the user’s private key, the Bitcoin is transferred to the Hacash chain, and on the status channel deployed through Layer2 Complete the payment operation. At the same time, the Hacash team also proposed the Layer3 concept on this basis to achieve ecological expansion.
The Hacash Layer1 network has been running since 2019. It still uses PoW as the underlying consensus mechanism. Through the three PoW currencies of HACD, BTC and HAC, a self-regulating supply system realizes currency issuance, distribution and settlement to solve the problem of Bitcoin’s lack of monetary attributes. question. Layer2 is to build a channel chain for payment and settlement, which is mainly used for large-scale payments and is also the infrastructure of L3. Layer3 is an ecosystem used for multi-chain interaction and application construction to support asset issuance, smart contract operation, and face data interaction and cross-chain.
Ken You, co-founder of Hacash.com, once published an article titled “ZK-Rollups Top Three Possibilities for Scaling Bitcoin》 article, in which the use of ZK roll-up new chain is used as an example. It seems that the team has the intention to use ZK roll-up to build a new chain.
BeL2 is Bitcoin Layer2 launched by layer1 blockchain Elastos (ELA). This is a BTC Rollup that will allow Bitcoin to include smart contracts and irreversible digital agreements. These smart contracts can be fully defined, managed, tracked, and modified on Bitcoin without the need for an intermediary.
The network will also allow users to stake their Bitcoin holdings, earning rewards when users interact with applications built on BeL2.
Elasto plans to announce BeL2-enabled partnerships and use cases in areas such as financial services, entertainment and real-world assets (RWA) in the coming months.
2. Bitcoin side chain
Free(FREE)
Founded in 2022, Libre is a Bitcoin L2 sidechain dedicated to scaling the performance of Bitcoin by increasing its speed and usability.
The Libre mainnet was launched on July 4, 2022. Shortly after the mainnet was launched, Libre released an airdrop of 10 million LIBRE, but in the end only 277,000 LIBRE was claimed. In addition to the layer2 blockchain, Libre has also launched a beta version of BRC20 Dex and a mobile APP to facilitate users to trade inscriptions.
3. Bitcoin data available layer
Founded in 2023, Nubit is the data availability layer of the Bitcoin ecosystem and is used to change the way transactions are processed on the Bitcoin network. Its development team, the Riema team, proposed BRC-1310, a specialized Bitcoin-native data availability standard that is implemented by using a variety of advanced technologies. These include Bitcoin native staking, data availability sampling technology, data attestation directly on the Bitcoin network, and decentralized bridges.
On January 4, Bitcoin Layer 2 protocol Nubit announced that it had received angel round financing from domo, the founder of Bounce Finance and Brc-20.
4. On-chain indexer
Founded in 2022, Rooch is a modular blockchain platform that proposes the use of on-chain indexers to expand the Bitcoin network.
On top of Rooch, all Bitcoin block headers and UTXO states are synchronized to Rooch as objects in MoveVM, and UTXOs are indexed and cross-validated by the light client and all block headers. The indexed Bitcoin UTXO information can then be used in smart contracts for full-chain applications built on Rooch.
Among them, all UTXOs are not locked on the Bitcoin network, but only their state information is synchronized to Rooch. That is, no Bitcoin assets can be transferred from Bitcoin to Rooch. Only the latest Bitcoin UTXO status will be synchronized to Rooch in real time and guaranteed to be correct.
It is reported that Rooch recently announced that it will soon launch the pioneer network RoochBTC. The RoochBTC network will index the complete Bitcoin mainnet status on the chain, as well as the content required to develop full-chain applications using Bitcoin assets, including SDK, wallet API, and documentation. and examples.
5. Integrate AI
x.TAI is a Bitcoin Layer 2 network based on an AI encryption algorithm. In December 2023, x.TAI announced that it would release the xTAI Network, a second-layer inscription chain based on its XRC20 protocol, and its BRC20 inscription xtai will serve as an ecological governance token.
According to the official Twitter of x.TAI, the details of xTAI Networkx were originally scheduled to be announced on January 1, but x.TAI did not release it on time, and there is currently no specific new timetable for release.
AiPTP（ATMT）
Founded in 2023, AIPTP is a decentralized AI network based on blockchain. AIPTP will build a dual L2 network for Bitcoin. This includes Bitcoin L2 (tentatively named AIS) with a POS mechanism that supports the AIPTP training model; Bitcoin L2 with a PoW mechanism (tentatively named AIW) supports the AIPTP inference model. Bitcoin and ATMT can be circulated cross-chain among the three chains. ATMT adopts the burn+mint cross-chain circulation method, and Bitcoin adopts pledge A chain to release to B chain for cross-chain exchange.
6. Others
BEVM was founded in 2023 and is a decentralized Bitcoin L2 compatible with EVM. BEVM is based on technologies such as the Schnorr signature algorithm brought by the Taproot upgrade, allowing BTC to cross-chain from the Bitcoin mainnet to Layer 2 in a decentralized manner. Since BEVM is compatible with EVM, all DApps running in the Ethereum ecosystem can run on BTC Layer 2 and use BTC as Gas.
On November 29, 2023, BEVM released a white paper.
BEVM has now been launched on the Xianxing network ChainX. The 2023 BEVM pioneer network annual data released by BEVM shows that its total transaction volume is 2.77 million, and the total number of active addresses is 55,000; TVL reached 119.56 BTC (approximately US$5.09 million); the total bridge capacity to and from Ethereum L2 is US$11.53 million. Recently, the BEVM pioneer network launched the first inscription protocol Bevscriptions, which processed 3 million transactions in 6 hours, with a tps of about 150.
In December 2023, the first Odyssey event was launched and has now ended. BEVM founder Gavin (@gguoss) said that the second phase is expected to be launched on January 15, and 10-20 ecological projects will be invited to participate. The name of the second phase of the event will not use “Odyssey”. Instead, it is named after the place name “Helsinki” after the first BTC block mined by Satoshi Nakamoto.
Currently, the BEVM ecosystem has more than 20 ecological projects including BTC full-chain DEX OmniSwap and decentralized signature protocol Bool Network.
Recommended reading:@Web3CN_Pro/bevm-founder%E8%87%AA%E8%BF%B0-%E4%B8%BA%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88%E4%BB%A5%E5%8F%8A%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E5%81%9Abtc-layer2-b4cffeddb89c">“BEVM Founder’s Readme: Why and How to Make BTC Layer2?” 》
Come on（DOVI）
Founded in 2023, Dovi is a Bitcoin Layer 2 compatible with EVM smart contracts. In November 2023, Dovi officially released a white paper. According to the white paper, Dovi integrates Schnorr signatures and MAST structures to improve transaction privacy, optimize data size and verification processes; issue a flexible framework for various asset types other than Bitcoin, and realize cross-chain asset transfers.
KuCoin Labs announced its strategic investment in Dovi in December 2023, and its native token DOVI was launched on the KuCoin trading platform on December 12 of that year. The distribution of DOVI tokens of the Dovi protocol follows a fair release model. Within 4 hours of going online, all 15 million tokens were claimed. As of January 15, DOVI’s fully diluted market capitalization was approximately $9.4 million. Currently, users can stake DOVI on the official website to receive rewards.
Dovi’s official website states that the next step will be to release a test network, establish developer community and ecosystem support, and launch Dovi V1.
ZeroSync was founded in 2022 to expand Bitcoin through zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-Proofs, ZKP). Its main application is through Blockstream satellites, allowing all nodes on the earth to complete the synchronization and verification of the blockchain almost instantly. In late 2023, ZeroSync team member @lucidLucky released the first proof of chain state in space via the @Blockstream satellite.
ZeroSync is based on the STARK proof and will use the Cairo language created by StarkWare. ZeroSync will be launched in three consecutive phases, namely header chain proof, hypothetically valid chain proof and full chain proof, with the first two prototypes already completed. The ZeroSync Toolkit will also provide Bitcoin developers with tools to apply zero-knowledge proofs to their own products and services. It is reported that the development of ZeroSync has received sponsorship and support from StarkWare, OpenSats, Spiral, and geometry.
On October 9, 2023, Robin Linus, the leader of the ZeroSync project, published a white paper called “BitVM: Compute Anything On Bitcoin”, which triggered extensive discussions on improving the programmability of Bitcoin. BitVM stands for “Bitcoin Virtual Machine” and is designed to allow developers to run complex contracts on Bitcoin.
Founded in 2019, MAP Protocol is a Bitcoin Layer 2 for point-to-point cross-chain interoperability. The MAP protocol allows assets and users of other public chains to seamlessly interact with the Bitcoin network by leveraging Bitcoin’s security mechanisms. It not only enhances network security, but also realizes BRC20 cross-chain capabilities.
MAP Protocol recently announced that it has received strategic investment from DWF Labs and Waterdrip Capital.
It is reported that MAP and MAPO are both native tokens of MAP Protocol. They are the same tokens but use different code symbols to distinguish the chains in which they are located. On December 18, MAP Protocol announced the launch of a large-scale token destruction, with a total amount of 133,886,020 MAP/MAPO, accounting for 5.9% of the circulating supply. As of January 15, MAP’s fully diluted market value was approximately $260 million.
Founded in 2017, Tectum is a distributed ledger protocol management platform whose ecosystem includes Tectum Blockchain, Tectum Wallet, Tectum Token (TET), Tectum SoftNote and 3FA identity authentication applications.
Among them, Tectum SoftNote is a non-custodial Bitcoin Layer 2, which can expand the transaction volume on Bitcoin to hundreds of thousands or even more than one million transactions per second.
Tectum’s native token is TFT, which can be used to mint SoftNote, pay reduced merchant fees, mint T12-20 standard project tokens, and access other Tectum/CrispMind products. at present TET Mainnet staking has been enabled. As of January 15, TFT’s fully diluted market value was $275 million.
Bitfinity (formerly InfinitySwap) was founded in 2021 and is a Bitcoin Layer 2 network based on Internet Computer and EVM compatible. Previously, the InfinitySwap business hoped to make BTC mortgage mainstream through AMM, and was called the “Uniswap” of the Internet Computer (ICP) blockchain network.
Recently, Bitfinity completed $7 million in token financing at a valuation of $130 million, with participation from Polychain Capital, ParaFi Capital, Dokia Capital and Draft Ventures. In 2021, Bitfinity also received US$1.5 million in seed round financing from Polychain, a16z Crypto, Internet Computer, Dfinity, and Draft Ventures.
Bitfinity is currently in the test network stage, and the launch time of the main network has not yet been announced.
BitBolt Network is a Bitcoin Layer2 network leveraging technologies such as account abstraction and threshold ECDSA, dedicated to the Bitcoin payments and Ordinals ecosystem. BitBolt enables users to conduct Bitcoin transactions at lightning speeds while ensuring low transaction fees and utilization of smart contract capabilities. BitBolt Network has launched the Thunder test network.
In July 2023, BitBolt Network conducted an IDO, but the follow-up team stated that the IDO did not reach the goal of raising 3 Bitcoins, so it decided to refund the addresses participating in this IDO.
DFS Network is a Bitcoin Layer 2. It announced the launch of its mainnet on January 1st and started mining of its mainnet token DFS on January 3rd. It is reported that the functions of the first version of the DFS Network mainnet are very simple, including Swap, liquidity mining, on-chain friends circle, node voting, mainstream BRC20 inscription cross-chain deposit and withdrawal transactions, etc.
According to official information, DFS is the main network token of DFS Network. In addition to main network governance, part of the handling fees used for dex will also be repurchased and destroyed. The total amount of DFS is 10 million. Currently, 1 million DFSN are fairly distributed on the BTC chain, and 2.5 million DFS are fairly distributed on the EOS chain. They will be airdropped to the DFS Network with a 1:1 mapping, and the remaining 6.5 million will be circulated through Sex mining fair release. The relationship between DFSN and DFS: 1 DFS=1 DFS, 1 DFSN=1 DFS + 1 meme (BRC-20). The 0.05% Swap fee will be used to destroy DFS.
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