The Bitcoin ecosystem has long been regarded as a stronghold of 'value storage', but DeFi applications are limited by its low TPS (transactions per second) and high fees. Bitlayer addresses this issue through BitVM technology (an optimistic verification scheme), which allows for Turing-complete smart contracts to be expressed on Bitcoin while maintaining security. As early as the beginning of 2025, Bitlayer collaborated with Solana-related projects such as SonicSVM (the first Solana virtual machine chain) to explore the injection of liquidity into Bitcoin.
This collaboration in August of this year is an extension following the launch of the @BitlayerLabs mainnet V2. V2 introduces a recursive settlement mechanism, further enhancing scalability. According to Bitlayer's roadmap, the mainnet V2 is officially deployed in Q3 2025, which aligns closely with today's YBTC release. The Solana ecosystem is in a phase of meme coin and DeFi explosion, with a noticeable rebound in TVL, while Bitcoin prices continue to rise during the 2025 bull market (currently around $60,000), leading to a surge in market demand for BTCFi. This collaboration precisely seizes the opportunity: Bitcoin holders want to earn returns but are unwilling to relinquish asset control; Solana users are eager for more blue-chip assets (such as BTC) to enter the ecosystem.
Specifically, Bitlayer has chosen Kamino Finance (a leading automated yield vault protocol on Solana) and Orca (a decentralized exchange on Solana focused on slippage-free trading) as partners. This is not random: Kamino manages billions of dollars in liquidity vaults, capable of providing lending and yield optimization for YBTC; Orca's CLAMM (concentrated liquidity automated market maker) model ensures efficient trading. The collaboration announcement emphasized that this will 'open a new era for BTCFi on Solana'.
