Bitlayer Joins Forces With Antpool, F2Pool, and SpiderPool to Supercharge Bitcoin DeFi

Bitlayer, a Bitcoin Layer 2 utilizing the BitVM paradigm, has secured a groundbreaking partnership with three leading Bitcoin mining pools: Antpool, F2Pool, and SpiderPool. This collaboration aims to accelerate the adoption of BitVM, a technology designed to bring Bitcoin-native decentralized finance (DeFi) to the forefront.

Bitcoin’s ecosystem has historically lagged behind others like Ethereum due to limitations, particularly the lack of Turing-complete smart contracts. BitVM tackles this by offering Bitcoin-level security and Turing completeness without altering Bitcoin’s core protocol. However, realizing this vision necessitates miner cooperation, as they are responsible for creating and validating transactions. This partnership addresses that need.

The three mining pools, collectively controlling over 36% of Bitcoin’s hashrate, have committed to supporting non-standard transactions (NSTs). These are transactions valid under Bitcoin’s rules but not relayed by standard Bitcoin Core software, requiring miner support for on-chain confirmation. The pools will act as guardians of the BitVM Bridge, ensuring NSTs are reliably included in blocks. The BitVM Bridge facilitates secure movement of BTC into other blockchain ecosystems, enabling broader Bitcoin DeFi applications while maintaining security.

This partnership benefits both Bitlayer and the miners. For Bitlayer, it removes a significant hurdle to BitVM deployment, bringing widespread use closer to reality. For miners facing reduced income due to halving events, BitVM offers new revenue streams through increased transaction fees. Antpool’s CEO highlighted the potential for new economic activity and increased fee-based income. F2Pool’s CSO emphasized the importance of innovation, and SpiderPool’s CTO focused on the expansion of Bitcoin’s utility as a financial platform.

The collaboration follows Bitlayer’s integrations with major Layer 1 ecosystems like Sui, Base, Arbitrum, and Starknet, reflecting a growing demand for secure, scalable Bitcoin-native DeFi. Bitlayer is actively onboarding validators and early adopters to secure and expand the BitVM Bridge, aiming to establish it as a cornerstone of Bitcoin’s future development.