Interviewee: Bitlayer core team member (alias Leo)
Interview date: August 2025
Interview Summary: Web3 Daily
In the current landscape where public chain ecosystems like Ethereum, Solana, and Modular are continuously innovating, the technical imagination of Bitcoin seems to have been overlooked.
On the one hand, it is the strongest, safest, and most decentralized main chain of global consensus; on the other hand, it lacks 'modern functions' such as smart contracts, cross-chain liquidity, and DeFi, and cannot support more advanced on-chain interactions.
Recently, Binance Task Square has launched a special project—Bitlayer, which is conducting a task event with a total prize pool of up to 100,000 BTR, attracting a large number of Web3 users to participate.
We also took this opportunity to interview Leo, a core team member of Bitlayer, to discuss their views on the next phase of Bitcoin and why they say 'BTC's awakening cannot rely on memes but on architectural reconstruction.'
Q1: You launched the Bitlayer task activity at Binance Task Square, what does this mean for you?
Leo:
This is our first time opening interactive tasks to global users, so we chose the most mainstream platform. We don't see it as a 'marketing task', but rather as a 'user capability screening'.
If the project really reaches the point of issuing tokens, we will place great importance on the quality of early interactions—whether you truly understand Bitlayer's vision, and whether you've done the basic usage, interaction, and engagement. We care about 'on-chain behavior', not 'hype'.
Q2: In one sentence, what is the vision of Bitlayer?
Leo:
In short, what we want to do is:
'Make Bitcoin smart, liquid, and composable, rather than just lying there passively.'
Many people today hold BTC, but the activity of this asset on-chain is extremely low. Bitlayer aims to turn these BTC into assets that can be staked, borrowed, and yield-bearing—while ensuring the security of the native Bitcoin chain.
Q3: BitVM is your core technology, what exactly does this technology change?
Leo:
BitVM is a verification framework running on Bitcoin that allows more complex logical validations to be executed without changing the Bitcoin protocol itself. This may sound a bit abstract.
But you can understand it as:
If Ethereum is an 'open-source, universal, flexible' programming system, then BitVM is a minimalist yet reliable 'logical execution channel' on Bitcoin.
It allows Bitcoin assets to participate in cross-chain bridges, smart contract verification, trading clearing and settlement, rather than just static holding. We have also developed our own native cross-chain bridge and YBTC yield token model through BitVM, both of which are already running on the testnet.
Q4: What do you think about the recent 'narrative boom' in the BTC ecosystem? Will Ordinals, Runes, and BRC20 be rivals or allies?
Leo:
We warmly welcome the flourishing of the BTC ecosystem. We are not competitors but complementors.
Ordinals and Runes are more focused on the asset layer and application layer, representing innovations in 'content'; whereas Bitlayer is more like a complement to the 'underlying infrastructure'. We hope that in the future, these assets and protocols can also operate under the Bitlayer framework to enhance logical capabilities, asset security, and liquidity efficiency.
In simple terms, they are the 'superstructure', and we are the 'operating system'.
Q5: How do you view 'issuing tokens'? Will Bitlayer have a token in the future?
Leo:
Currently, we will not officially announce the token issuance plan, nor do we have a timeline for listing on exchanges, but we acknowledge:
The token model of Bitlayer is already in design, and the activities at the task square will become an important reference dimension.
We will consider multiple metrics such as on-chain interactions, community activity, and long-term participation behavior. In simple terms, participating in tasks, interactions, and trials now could potentially become key factors for incentives in the future.
Q6: If I am an ordinary user and want to support your project now, what should I do?
Leo:
We suggest starting with these few things now:
Participate in the Bitlayer event at Binance Task Square (ongoing until August 23)
Join our Discord community and follow our X (Twitter) account.
Understand Bitlayer's BitVM cross-chain bridge, YBTC model, and white paper content
If you have certain interaction capabilities, you can participate in the testnet or cross-chain testing, leaving on-chain behavior.
You don't need to be a geek developer, but if you understand that 'Bitcoin shouldn't just be gold', then we are on the same side.
Q7: Last question, how big do you think the long-term imaginative space for Bitlayer is?
Leo:
Bitcoin is the hardest consensus asset in Web3, but it is too 'mute'. Bitlayer is like turning a silent guard into a thinking soldier.
If we succeed, BTC will become:
Cross-chain compatible
Programmable
Yield-bearing
A Layer1 'super settlement layer' that can build ecosystems
We do not aim to benchmark against any public chain, but hope to initiate the functional revolution of BTC itself. This path is not easy, but we believe some things are worth trying once.
🧭 Postscript:
Before the interview ended, Leo added:
'Those who understand this earliest may not just be users in the future, but also builders.'
The Bitlayer task is still ongoing, with less than a week left until it ends.
It's still too early to conclude its success or failure, but at least it reminds us of one thing:
Bitcoin is not a finished work; it may have another awakening.
