BOB announced the introduction of native BTC into the DeFi system on the BitVM Testnet, supported by ten institutions including Lombard, Solv Protocol, and Fiamma.

On July 2, the hybrid Layer2 project BOB (Build on Bitcoin) announced that it has officially enabled native BTC on its BitVM Testnet, which is supported by ten leading industry and DeFi institutions including P2P.org, Lombard, Solv Protocol, Amber Group, Ankr, RockawayX, Fiamma, UTXO Management, Luganodes, and SatLayer. After the Testnet goes live, the BitVM bridge and native BTC will be launched on the BOB Mainnet in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The successful launch of native BTC on the BitVM Testnet has solidified BOB's position as the "home" of Bitcoin DeFi, as it introduces native BTC (rather than wrapped BTC) into its extensive Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem, fundamentally differentiating it from other wrapped BTC currently used in DeFi that rely on centralized custodians or multi-signatures. BOB's BitVM bridge employs an anti-fraud "1-of-N" security mechanism to provide Bitcoin security assurances. Just as ETH remains "ETH" on Ethereum scaling chains like Optimism and Arbitrum, BTC on BOB also retains its native status, abbreviated as "BTC."

According to reports, all partners of the BOB BitVM Testnet are members of the BitVM Alliance, which is dedicated to advancing BitVM from theoretical research to practical application. The alliance members are working together to support the Testnet experiments by running or launching BOB BitVM nodes. The participation of these leading DeFi "players" has significantly accelerated the practical implementation and deployment of BitVM.

This also marks the first operation of the BitVM infrastructure by partners outside the BitVM Alliance (a cooperative organization composed of leading BitVM builders), demonstrating that the BitVM bridge is practically usable in real-world development.

Alexei Zamyatin, co-founder of BOB and founding member of BitVM Alliance, stated: "Our vision has always been to place Bitcoin at the core of the DeFi system, and BitVM makes this vision possible. With the launch of native Bitcoin on BOB, backed by the Bitcoin native network, there is no need to trust any third-party centralized institution."

In addition, Alexei Zamyatin predicts that Bitcoin DeFi will experience explosive growth in the near future, and the establishment of BitVM infrastructure will help release trillions of dollars in liquidity for Bitcoin within the multi-chain ecosystem. Alexei Zamyatin stated, "The launch of the BitVM Testnet covers a wide range of partners—investment institutions, infrastructure, liquidity providers (LPs), and DeFi protocols. Here, I would like to extend my special thanks to the partners of the BitVM Alliance: P2P.org, Lombard, Solv Protocol, Amber Group, Ankr, RockawayX, Fiamma, UTXO Management, Luganodes, and SatLayer, for their support and feedback on the newly designed BitVM bridge for BOB."

"Joining the BitVM Alliance and participating in BOB's latest release of the BitVM Testnet is a natural extension of Solv's mission: unleashing the trillion-dollar liquidity and yield of native Bitcoin assets. We believe that BitVM represents a pathway to trustless BTC DeFi, and BOB's BitVM Testnet confirms this. The trustless architecture of BitVM perfectly aligns with our vision: achieving institution-grade yields entirely based on the Bitcoin protocol itself and bringing that yield into Bitcoin," said Solv Protocol co-founder and CEO Ryan Chow.

"At P2P.org, we have always believed that the potential of Bitcoin lies in its ability to become the foundation of a DeFi system, rather than just a dormant digital gold. The BitVM bridge from BOB represents a fundamental breakthrough, enabling native BTC to participate in the DeFi system without having to overcome the trust issues that hinder the development of the BTC DeFi ecosystem. We are excited to contribute our expertise to the BitVM Testnet, as we have always believed that BitVM is the missing piece to unlock the trillions of dollars in liquidity for Bitcoin," said Artemiy Parshakov, Vice President of Institutional Business at P2P.org.

As a hybrid Layer 2 chain, BOB combines the advantages of the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks, providing the best entry point for Bitcoin DeFi. This unique hybrid Layer 2 model has made substantial improvements to the existing BitVM bridge design:

Data availability based on Ethereum: Utilizing lower-cost Ethereum data blocks for fraud-resistant data access instead of relying on Bitcoin for data storage. Therefore, BitVM based on BOB inherits the same anti-censorship properties as Ethereum sidechains like Arbitrum or Base.

Divide the operator role into two: the operator node is responsible for computation, while the operator liquidity provider (LP) is responsible for providing BTC liquidity for withdrawals. This system draws on the Proof of Stake (PoS) system, enabling role specialization to match institutional products, thereby improving efficiency and reducing capital thresholds.

Collateral Reuse: Based on the research of Citrea and CommonPrefix, BOB allows operators to reuse BTC collateral across multiple BitVM instances, significantly enhancing scalability.

About BOB (Build on Bitcoin)

BOB (Build on Bitcoin) is a hybrid Layer 2 network that combines the advantages of Bitcoin and Ethereum, aiming to establish itself as the "BTC DeFi home." The unique Hybrid L2 model integrates the strengths of both ecosystems—Bitcoin's security and dormant BTC capital, as well as Ethereum's DeFi innovation and versatility. By positioning BTC as the pillar of a brand new decentralized financial system, BOB can unlock new use cases and trillions of BTC in liquidity. BOB perfectly inherits the security of the Bitcoin network through the BitVM protocol and creates trust-minimized bridges between BOB, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other L1 networks. Therefore, the Hybrid L2 does not need to rely on third-party cross-chain bridges for interoperability, easily concentrating liquidity around the Bitcoin network instead of dispersing it across various chains.

BOB has received support from top investment institutions such as Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Ledger Cathay Ventures, and IOSG. Website | Twitter | Discord | Telegram