While Bitcoin was still struggling with the dilemma of 'only being able to store and not earn', a project called Bitlayer has already entered the crypto space with the 'Ultimate BTCFi Solution'. It breaks through Bitcoin's 'island dilemma' using BitVM bridging technology, and relies on a Rollup network to make Bitcoin DeFi operational. It has also attracted $25 million from top-tier institutions—Is this capital hype, or a true revolution that could multiply Bitcoin's value tenfold?

1. Bitcoin is going crazy! Bitlayer rips open a trillion-dollar DeFi gap.

As the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Bitcoin has been trapped in the 'store of value' cage. With 180 million Bitcoin holders worldwide, apart from 'holding for price increases', it is almost impossible to find safe earning methods: centralized platform staking is risky due to potential exit scams, and wrapping into WBTC relies on multi-signature institutions for backing, greatly reducing decentralization.

Bitlayer precisely addresses this pain point: traditional financial institutions are rushing into Bitcoin (with over $40 billion in capital flowing into U.S. spot ETFs alone), and it has become a trend for listed companies to increase their Bitcoin holdings, but they need compliant and secure income channels; retail investors need low-barrier Bitcoin DeFi tools, such as direct lending with BTC or liquidity mining, rather than just speculating on price charts.

Data does not lie: Currently, Bitcoin's utilization in DeFi is less than 3%, while Ethereum stands at 28%. Based on Bitcoin's market cap of $1.3 trillion, even if only 10% flows into DeFi, that would create a market of $130 billion—this is the 'super cake' that Bitlayer aims to tackle.

2. Two Major Weapons! Bitlayer's 'Bitcoin Liberation Plan'.

BitVM Bridging: Bitcoin's 'Decentralized Passport'

Traditional Bitcoin cross-chain is like 'smuggling': WBTC is controlled by 21 multi-signature addresses, and once institutions act maliciously, user assets can instantly drop to zero. Bitlayer's BitVM bridging can be considered a 'regular passport':

• Minimized Trust: Based on Bitcoin scripts and BitVM technology, it does not require any centralized institution for endorsement. It uses cryptographic proofs to ensure 1:1 anchoring of BTC during cross-chain transactions (generating YBTC). Even if all bridging nodes act maliciously, users can retrieve their assets through the on-chain challenge mechanism.

• Real-time mainnet operation: As one of the first projects globally to achieve BitVM mainnet deployment, it can already allow BTC to 'travel instantly' between Bitcoin and other public chains, with transaction fees 70% lower than traditional cross-chain methods.

• YBTC = Income-generating Tool: The cross-chain YBTC can be directly put into DeFi protocols, for example, staking in the Sui ecosystem, with an annual yield stabilizing at 5%-8%, and it can be exchanged back to BTC at any time, all traceable on-chain.

Bitlayer Network: Bitcoin's 'High-Speed Engine'

The Bitcoin mainnet can only handle 7 transactions per second, with fees that are exorbitantly high, making it impossible to support DeFi. The Bitlayer network uses Rollup technology to give Bitcoin a 'turbocharger':

• High Performance + Bitcoin-Level Security: All transactions are processed on the Bitlayer chain (thousands per second), but the final state is anchored to the Bitcoin mainnet, equating to 'using Bitcoin's security as a safety net while having Ethereum's speed'.

• EVM Compatibility = Seamless Migration: Developers do not need to learn a new language; they can directly move DeFi protocols from Ethereum to Bitlayer. For example, the models of Aave and Uniswap can be adapted to the Bitcoin ecosystem.

• Miners can also share in the profits: Top mining pools like Antpool and F2Pool have already connected to Bitlayer, allowing them to package Rollup transactions and earn additional fees, transforming Bitcoin miners from 'bookkeepers' into 'co-builders of the DeFi ecosystem'.

3. Crazy Marriages! How Scary is Bitlayer's 'Circle of Friends'?

The partnership list of Bitlayer can make the crypto space tremble:

• Public Chain Giants Unite: Strategic cooperation with Base, Arbitrum, Sui, and Cardano means that YBTC can directly enter the DeFi pools of these ecosystems. For instance, borrowing USDC with YBTC on Base, or stablecoin exchanges on Sui, seamlessly connecting hundreds of millions of users.

• Mining Pool Giants Stand By: Antpool (the second largest Bitcoin mining pool globally) and F2Pool (which holds 10% of the hash rate) not only provide technical support but also recommend Bitlayer on their platforms, effectively opening up a 'DeFi gateway' for Bitcoin miners.

• Exchanges are laying the groundwork: Binance Wallet is deeply collaborating on the 'Booster' campaign, where users can stake YBTC in their wallets to earn rewards, indicating the exchange's advance positioning on the BTR token (Bitlayer's native token).

These collaborations are not mere talk: In just three months since its launch, the cross-chain volume of YBTC has exceeded 10,000 BTC, and the staking scale in the Sui ecosystem has surpassed $20 million, growing at a rate of 30% per week.

4. Capital Votes with Its Feet! The Ambition Behind the $25 Million Funding.

In 2025, Bitlayer's funding news exploded in the circle: $25 million, led by Polychain Capital (a top venture capital firm in the crypto space) and Franklin Templeton (a traditional asset management giant managing $15 trillion), with follow-on investments from Framework Ventures, ABCDE, and others.

This money is spent very 'smartly':

• 60% directed towards technological research and development, especially to optimize the challenge mechanism of BitVM bridging, making cross-chain transactions safer;

• 30% for ecological subsidies, providing incentives to DeFi protocols that connect to Bitlayer, for instance, the first 100 deployed projects can receive $100,000 in startup funds;

• 10% for user acquisition, which is the current 'Booster' campaign, where participation can win BTR tokens; the Pre-TGE event is even rumored in the community to be a 'must-grab airdrop'.

The entry of traditional financial giant Franklin Templeton is particularly noteworthy—it manages vast pension and insurance funds, which could very likely flow into Bitcoin DeFi through Bitlayer in the future, representing a true 'nuclear-level advantage'.

5. Risks and Opportunities: Can Bitlayer Become 'The Ethereum of Bitcoin'?

Bitlayer's offering is impressive, but the risks cannot be ignored:

• Technical Implementation Risks: The BitVM technology is still in its early stages; although the mainnet has been successfully launched, will there be bugs during large-scale applications? For example, will a slow response to the challenge mechanism lead to assets being temporarily unrecoverable?

• Competitive Pressure: Established projects like WBTC and STX will not sit idly by; they are upgrading their cross-chain solutions, and Bitlayer needs to quickly seize market share.

• Regulatory Uncertainty: If the U.S. SEC defines YBTC as 'securities', it may affect institutional entry.

But the opportunities are even more frightening: If Bitlayer can capture 10% of the Bitcoin DeFi market, just the scale of YBTC would amount to $13 billion, with the BTR token serving as ecological fuel (for transaction fees and governance voting), the market value is conservatively estimated to exceed $1 billion. Users participating in the 'Booster' campaign could very well be early beneficiaries.

Summary: The 'DeFi Revolution' of Bitcoin has begun.

Bitlayer is not just creating a small tool; it aims to equip Bitcoin with a 'financial operating system'. When $1.3 trillion worth of Bitcoin begins to flow freely in the DeFi world, and traditional institutions move pensions into the Bitcoin ecosystem through Bitlayer, the explosion of this market is just a matter of time.

Today's Bitlayer is like Ethereum in 2018—although still in the early stages, it has already shown capital and users the potential to 'change the game rules'. For those looking to get involved in BTCFi, rather than getting caught up in whether it will rise or not, it is better to understand its logic: whoever can enable Bitcoin to earn safely will get a piece of this trillion-dollar cake.

And Bitlayer is handing you the key.