This article is contributed by GOAT Network and does not represent the views of ChainCatcher, nor does it constitute any investment advice.

GOAT Network, a Bitcoin-native zkRollup network, announced that the project team has gradually acquired 34 BTC over the past year as a long-term strategic reserve to support ecosystem development. The reserve is now officially disclosed, and its first Ecosystem Pilot Fund is launched.

The fund aims to accelerate the sustainable development of Bitcoin-native zkRollup applications, with funds primarily used for protocol liquidity building, community incentives, and developer contribution rewards.

GOAT Network is the first Bitcoin Layer 2 project to officially use its own BTC reserves for ecosystem incentives. In contrast, many other Bitcoin ecosystem projects only issue their own tokens for incentives, failing to truly realize native earnings paid in BTC. For top liquidity providers, BTC earnings are essential. GOAT's approach demonstrates its unique commitment to ecosystem building in the Bitcoin Layer 2 space.

As of now, the fund has invested over 2 BTC for community user rewards. In addition to liquidity support, community users can also earn BTC rewards through the on-chain Gas earnings mechanism. The Artemis Finance protocol on GOAT Network currently offers over 7% annualized BTC yield (APR) with over 87% total APR. Users can earn rewards through staking and earn points for future airdrops: https://artemisfinance.io/stake-goat?from=home

Related initiatives have propelled GOAT Network to a leading position in terms of activity among all Bitcoin L2s, with daily trading volume statistics as follows:

  • GOAT Network: 51,000

  • Botanix: 15,000

  • Corn: 8,880

  • BOB: 55,000

  • Bitlayer: 42,000

  • Rootstock: 46,000

  • Bouncebit: 59,000

GOAT Network is currently still in the early stages of its Alpha mainnet launch. With the continuous expansion of ecosystem partners, the realization of complete Bitcoin security through BitVM technology, and the increase in BTC earnings products, the network is expected to continue accelerating its growth.

To encourage more developers and community members to participate in the construction, GOAT Network has also launched several ecosystem tasks:

  • Complete the One Piece Season 3 task to earn points and unlock BTC blind boxes:
    https://onepiece.goat.network/invite

  • Participate in ZKM and GOAT Network GitHub code contribution tasks to earn developer points:

    • https://github.com/ProjectZKM

    • https://github.com/GOATNetwork

And these 34 BTC for the Ecosystem Pilot Fund are just the starting point of its native incentive system. A complete Ecosystem Development Fund is being prepared, which will include open grant applications, milestone-based support, and incentive mechanisms for long-term contributors, expected to launch in Q4 2025 with an initial scale of tens of millions of dollars.

Kevin Liu, core contributor of GOAT Network, stated: 'Our BTC reserves are the ammunition for ecosystem development. This initiative continues our recently launched BTC Yield Dashboard - the world's first chain-level BTC sustainable earnings product suite. By directly tying earnings to BTC and locking long-term capital reserves, we have chosen a long-termism path that prioritizes infrastructure rather than chasing short-term speculation.'

The timing of GOAT Network's launch of the 34 BTC Ecosystem Pilot Fund is also crucial, as the Bitcoin economy is entering a new phase. With the listing of Bitcoin spot ETFs and continuous institutional accumulation of BTC, the next key question is: how to achieve sustainable earnings from these holdings. Currently, there is still a lack of truly native, institutional-level solutions in the market. Most networks use their own tokens for incentives, which are often volatile and exhibit significant inflation, rather than incentivizing with BTC.

GOAT Network, by using native BTC (rather than its own tokens) to initiate ecosystem incentives, not only demonstrates a true commitment to 'betting with real money' but also establishes a sustainable incentive framework for liquidity providers. This aligns with the core spirit of Bitcoin and makes GOAT the most natural path for institutions and digital asset treasury to securely deploy funds, generate returns, and participate in network growth.

Jason, the head of the Avalon Finance ecosystem at GOAT, a leading BTCFi application on GOAT, stated: 'GOAT's approach of supporting the ecosystem with BTC reserves is exciting. This sets a new benchmark for how networks can support builders and communities without deviating from the spirit of Bitcoin.'

As for 'why now,' the answer is becoming increasingly clear: as Bitcoin block rewards continue to halve, the network needs more transaction activity and real application scenarios. Bitcoin Layer 2 will drive this wave of applications, and GOAT has taken the lead in putting BTC into practical operation and has taken a key step.

Two weeks before the announcement of this Ecosystem Pilot Fund, GOAT Network launched the BitVM2 Beta testnet, becoming the first Bitcoin Layer 2 to achieve real-time proof in a production environment. The system achieves parallel proofs with 5 provers and real-time proof in under 3 seconds, marking an important step towards the sustainability of Bitcoin's financial infrastructure. GOAT is leading Bitcoin's expansion from 'value storage' to 'sustainable earnings' and 'decentralized infrastructure,' truly empowering users and developers.

With BitVM2 achieving real-time proof in a production environment, GOAT Network has realized on-chain data visualization and verification for all peg-out proofs, truly transitioning zkRollup from narrative to technical baseline. From now on, zkRollup should not just be a label but should become the new standard of 'real-time, complete, and verifiable.'

Users can now view the complete proof process of each withdrawal operation in real-time on this page:
https://bitvm2.testnet3.goat.network/proof

For more information, please visit: https://www.goat.network/
Follow us on Twitter/X: https://x.com/GOATRollup
View the full BitVM2 whitepaper: https://www.goat.network/bitvm2-whitepaper

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