The fundamental security that Bitcoin possesses supports new horizons: decentralized finance systems built on self-sovereignty, security, and real-world financial inclusion.
Bitcoin 2025 developers expect DeFi to replace traditional finance.
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Prominent Bitcoin figures say that decentralized finance (DeFi) will transform Bitcoin from a passive store of value into an asset that can challenge traditional finance.
At the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, speakers shared the conviction that Bitcoin's infrastructure will support the next generation of DeFi applications in the next chapter of the network, reflecting the early developers' calls for a parallel financial system to fiat currency.
The conference featured DeFi projects like Liquid Network, which was joined by emerging Bitcoin DeFi companies looking to expand the decentralized "technology stack" in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
There was widespread consensus that Bitcoin is the foundation of finance, and the rising DeFi movement calls for the expansion of Bitcoin's infrastructure.
Developers are pioneers of the next phase of Bitcoin DeFi.
At the heart of the expanding Bitcoin DeFi movement lies a fundamental premise that Bitcoin
Bitcoin
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So big and so important that it cannot remain negative.
Jacob Phillips, co-founder of Lombard Finance, a digital currency trading protocol, told Cointelegraph: "Bitcoin's decentralized finance is about building a trust-based and permissioned financial system, transforming it into an effective financial tool, not just a vault." The Lombard LBTC platform supports this transformation by enabling users to deposit Bitcoin on the Bubble chain for yield, while using the token in decentralized finance applications, such as lending and trading on off-chain Bitcoin platforms.
Related: Is this the end of Bitcoin DeFi?
Meanwhile, Adrian Eidelman, product director at Rootstock Labs, praised Bitcoin's layer two (L2) as the foundation for smart contracts and financial inclusion. He stated to Cointelegraph, "There is no other blockchain, and there is no better place than Bitcoin to be the foundation for a new financial system." Integrated mining on Rootstock reached an all-time high in Q1 2025, showcasing the growth of sidechains and federated bridges that can expand Bitcoin's functionality without compromising its core security.
Charlie Hu, co-founder of Bitlayer, stressed the necessity of achieving completeness and self-sovereignty. He explained to Cointelegraph the importance of using Bitcoin's base layer to ensure completeness and security, rather than relying on sidechains, outlining a path that enhances Bitcoin's base layer with new infrastructure for decentralized finance (DeFi).
security, sovereignty, and real-world impact
Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, pointed to the potential of Bitcoin decentralized finance to provide yields, telling Cointelegraph: "Once you own Bitcoin layer 2, you can collateralize your Bitcoin and get an instant yield. This is completely different from ETFs," which separates traditional finance from untrusted protocols.
Back claimed that native Bitcoin applications will offer better borrowing rates and liquidity, even surpassing TradFi options because "the most liquid markets will be on-chain, thus the best borrowing rates, for example, will be on-chain."
He explained that the decentralized design of Bitcoin DeFi encourages users to adopt systems that do not require trust through self-custody tools, such as hardware wallets and layer-two yield farming, which offer lower fees and greater privacy compared to custodial exchanges. These features enable users to control their assets directly, supporting Bitcoin's principles of self-sovereignty, censorship resistance, and privacy.
Eve La Rose, CEO of Volta, emphasized the principle of self-custody. She said, "Self-custody is the foundation of Bitcoin's decentralized finance," stressing that user control remains indispensable even as developers build new financial layers.
Joseph Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Unchained, which started as a multi-signature collaborative custody company and now offers digital financial products, emphasized this, describing collaborative custody as the antidote to rent-seeking intermediaries in traditional finance: "Customers hold two of the three keys in our multi-signature vaults, ensuring they have unilateral control over transferring funds at any time."
Related: SEC chair strongly criticizes Gensler's approach to cryptocurrencies, defends self-custody
Rich Raines, an early contributor to Core DAO, described this moment as a convergence of strong security and decentralized finance experiences. He told Cointelegraph, "Bitcoin today is a store of value, but the next wave is utility."
conference, decentralization, finance, features
Eidelman, from Rootstock Labs, sees Bitcoin decentralized finance (DeFi) as a tool for economic empowerment, especially in areas suffering from inflation and capital controls. He added, "We're seeing this in places like Argentina, where people are using dollar-backed stablecoins to escape the erosion of the local currency. But the underlying collateral behind all this is Bitcoin, and that's what's driving a new kind of adoption."
From speakers on stage to those working on building new bridges, there is a strong belief that Bitcoin is more than just digital gold.
