Decentralized finance (DeFi) on the Bitcoin blockchain should still be in its infancy relative to Ethereum, however Bitcoin DeFi (BTCFi) is changing into safer and cheaper, crypto analytics agency Messari stated in a brand new report.
A central participant is Rootstock, one of many oldest Bitcoin layer-2 projects, crypto analytics agency Messari stated in its “State of Rootstock” report, revealed on Thursday.
Rootstock is now secured by 81% of Bitcoin’s complete hashrate, which means miners that account for quantity the hashrate are additionally approving transactions on the layer 2. The determine was simply 56% earlier than the the onboarding of Foundry and Spiderpool, the world’s largest and sixth-largest mining swimming pools, respectively, in February.
Messari additionally noticed that transaction charges on Rootstock are 95% cheaper than the typical Bitcoin transaction and 55% cheaper than these on Ethereum.
Rootstock is one among quite a few tasks trying to deliver larger utility to Bitcoin by means of increasing the availability for DeFi with good contracts, enabled by “BitVMX”, a modified model of the BitVM programming language. Different outstanding Bitcoin layer-2 tasks embrace Stacks and BOB (“Construct on Bitcoin”).
The challenge has additionally connected with bridging protocol LayerZero to allow Rootstock-native functions to attach with dozens of different blockchains, together with Ethereum and Solana. Its momentum units the stage for rising adoption of BTCFi by means of the rest of 2025, in accordance with Messari.
“As BTCFi continues to develop, Rootstock is well-positioned for broader adoption by means of core upgrades like a 60% discount in transaction charges, alongside sustained funding in builder training and incentive packages,” Messari analyst Andrew Yang stated.
Learn Extra: Bitcoin’s Role in DeFi Is ‘Untapped Opportunity,’ Binance Research Says