Hemi describes itself as a modular Layer-2 that merges Bitcoin’s settlement assurances with an Ethereum-style execution environment. In practice, this means developers build with familiar EVM tools while Hemi anchors state to Bitcoin for finality, positioning the network as a treasury-grade base for lending, liquidity, and rate markets. The project’s public messaging summarizes the vision as “the programmable Bitcoin chain,” with an execution layer tailored for on-chain finance that needs both speed and robust settlement guarantees.
Hemi Labs is the team building the network and framing the broader “Bitcoin programmability” thesis. Company materials and news coverage document a staged path from an incentivized testnet to open mainnet, with public communications tying the effort to seasoned engineering leadership and a clear focus on bridging Bitcoin’s security model with contract-rich applications. That combination—credible technical roots and a distribution-first launch cadence—helps explain how Hemi moved quickly from concept to a live ecosystem.
The hVM: extending the EVM with native Bitcoin awareness
Hemi’s core technical innovation is the Hemi Virtual Machine (hVM), an extended EVM that can read and reason about Bitcoin state. The whitepaper describes the hVM as “enveloping a full Bitcoin node within the EVM,” so contracts can consume Bitcoin data directly without relying on brittle external relays. A 2024 engineering explainer expands on that model: developers remain in an Ethereum-like environment while gaining programmatic access to UTXO data and Bitcoin proofs, enabling “Bitcoin-aware” dapps that were hard to build safely before.
Proof-of-Proof: anchoring state across Bitcoin and Ethereum
Hemi’s consensus story centers on Proof-of-Proof (PoP), a mechanism for embedding verifiable state commitments from one chain into another. Rather than trusting a separate validator set or a custodial bridge, PoP publishes cryptographic commitments to base layers and acts only after sufficient anchoring depth is reached. Engineering posts detail how PoP aligns finality: Ethereum-side actions wait for Bitcoin anchoring and vice versa, reducing the surface for settlement disputes while keeping the L2’s execution fast and composable.
Built on OP Stack, delivered as a modular rollup
For developer ergonomics, Hemi adopts the OP Stack rollup framework so teams can deploy Solidity contracts and use standard JSON-RPC with minimal changes. Infrastructure providers now list Hemi among supported networks, and official materials present the chain as a “Bitcoin-secured L2” where gas is paid in ETH while consensus and settlement are reinforced by PoP. The goal is pragmatic: reuse the proven EVM stack while upgrading the security story with Bitcoin anchoring.
Tunnels, not bridges: a trust-minimized value path
Most cross-chain hacks have targeted conventional bridges. Hemi proposes “tunnels” as an alternative primitive: a verifiable, rules-based path that minimizes delegated trust when moving assets across the supernetwork. Blog posts outline how tunnels lock assets on one side, mint on the other, and rely on inclusion proofs plus PoP anchoring for withdrawals. Recent explainers extend the model to NFTs and BRC-20-style assets, describing how Ordinals can surface inside EVM dapps without handing keys to custodians.
Developer experience: familiar tools with new data surfaces
From the builder’s perspective, the draw is that everything “just looks like Ethereum”—compilers, wallets, RPC calls—while the hVM exposes Bitcoin checks and proofs as first-class inputs. Official developer pages pitch Hemi as the place where “BTC’s security and ETH’s flexibility finally click,” and infrastructure partners advertise quick starts for teams that want to experiment without standing up bespoke relays. That blend of familiar tooling and new capabilities shortens time-to-mainnet for product teams.
Performance profile and user costs
Hemi’s public materials emphasize a consumer-ready feel: sub-second execution at the rollup layer and rapid publishing of batches, with Bitcoin anchoring in the background for settlement. Education posts and ecosystem write-ups describe target flows where users pay ETH-denominated gas and experience L2-style speeds while finality is strengthened via PoP. The upshot for end users is straightforward: faster interactions and predictable fees typical of modern L2s, paired with settlement assurances that lean on Bitcoin’s economic security.
Ecosystem traction and stated network metrics
Hemi’s ecosystem page highlights “90+ protocols building on Hemi rails” and more than a billion dollars in total value locked, with weekly deployments across categories from liquidity to wallets. While any self-reported number deserves independent verification, the page provides a directional signal of partner momentum. External coverage and platform listings further increase visibility, giving developers and users multiple sources to track progress as integrations go live.
Funding to accelerate the supernetwork thesis
In August–September 2025 the team announced a new $15 million round, bringing total funding to roughly $30 million according to company posts. Coverage from crypto media and the project’s own blog named backers including YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs), Republic Digital, and HyperChain Capital. For a network attempting to fuse two base-layer security models, that capital supports audits, operator incentives, ecosystem grants, and the long tail of engineering that production networks require.
Security posture and node specialization
Security in Hemi extends beyond proofs and tunnels to the roles that keep the network running. A mid-2025 engineering post outlines specialized node types—such as Bitcoin-secure sequencers—that participate in ordering and verification with restaked or bonded incentives. By making those roles explicit and economically aligned, the protocol aims to reduce single-operator risk, improve liveness, and formalize how value accrues to those who keep the system honest and responsive.
What people can build: practical use cases on day one
The combination of hVM and PoP unlocks Bitcoin-centric applications that still benefit from EVM composability. Examples highlighted in explainers include Bitcoin-collateralized credit, interest-rate markets, liquidity routing for BTC-denominated pairs, and NFT flows that treat Ordinals as first-class assets inside contract logic. With gas paid in ETH and bridges replaced by tunnels, these use cases are designed to feel like conventional L2 dapps while referencing Bitcoin value and settlement under the hood.
Roadmap signals: deeper equivalence, faster anchoring, broader access
Recent posts point to continued optimization of the prover and anchoring cadence, clearer bidirectional asset flows through tunnels, and additional documentation around finality windows so app teams can choose UX trade-offs confidently. The mainnet guide also references collaborations on cross-chain payment execution and gas abstraction—two ingredients that matter for onboarding users who have never touched a rollup. If the team keeps shipping toward shorter anchoring times and richer hVM surfaces, Hemi could become the default venue for builders who want Bitcoin’s assurances with Ethereum’s developer experience.
