Bitcoin Virtual Machine, SatoshiVM, Spiderchain and BitVM are among those that recently emerged with the aim of expanding the functionality of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin can only “stand a chance” at mass adoption if it opens up to the $57 billion world of decentralized finance (DeFi), according to developers of Bitcoin layer-2 networks.

While Bitcoin holds the role of a currency, a “digital gold,” and, more recently, a platform to host digital artifacts (Bitcoin Ordinals), developers tell Cointelegraph that there are many more impactful use cases for the blockchain yet to be realized.

“Restricting developers to solely P2P payments stifles creative exploration and potentially excludes valuable use cases,” said the pseudonymous founder of Bitcoin Virtual Machine (BVM) known as “punk3700.”

Punk3700 founded the Bitcoin Virtual Machine, which emerged in January 2023. It adopts a modular Bitcoin layer-2 “meta-protocol” architecture, allowing anyone to create their own customized layer-2 blockchain on Bitcoin. The solution connects the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with Bitcoin.
The BVM founder stressed a real need to create a consumer layer on top of Bitcoin for the network to fulfill its full potential, adding that DeFi applications are key, even if they could bring “bad actors” to the ecosystem.

“The decentralized world should empower developers to build freely with the autonomy to scale their creations.”
“There will be trial and error, but only then may we stand a chance for mass adoption on Bitcoin.”

In 2023, the founder of cross-chain infrastructure firm Botanix Labs, Willem Schroé — who created the Spiderchain — also argued that Bitcoin’s potential won’t be fulfilled unless it can connect to the broader financial system.

In 2023, Botanix Labs began working on the Spiderchain — a proof-of-stake layer 2 that implements EVM to EVM bridges to enable Bitcoin to interact with the EVM. Its public testnet officially launched on Nov. 29, 2023.

Connecting Bitcoin to Ethereum-based real-world assets, stablecoins, DeFi and nonfungible tokens via the EVM is the first step in that direction, Schroé argued.

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#Business
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#Scalability
#DeFi
#Layer2
Source - Coin Telegraph