What Is Bitlayer? Enhancing Bitcoin With the Power of BitVM

Bitcoin's decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, known as BTCFi, is proliferating despite the lack of native smart contract functionality on the Bitcoin blockchain. A variety of technologies are being used to work around this limitation and bring DeFi and other decentralized solutions to the Bitcoin ecosystem. One of the key ways to enable such functionality for the Bitcoin environment is via the use of computational engines, or virtual machines (VMs), that are capable of executing smart contracts. Additionally, some Layer 2 platforms are also used to power decentralized apps (DApps) on Bitcoin.

Bitlayer is a decentralized platform that has adopted both of these approaches — the use of relevant smart VMs and Layer 2 processing — to bring DApp functionality to the Bitcoin blockchain. Based on the Turing-complete BitVM engine for Bitcoin and utilizing the efficient off-chain processing of transactions, Bitlayer is an audacious new drive to turn Bitcoin into a DApp powerhouse. Moreover, Bitlayer features support for multiple VMs, including the enormously popular Ethereum virtual machine (EVM). 

Thanks to Bitlayer, complex smart contracts and sophisticated BTCFi apps are no longer an oddity within the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Key Takeaways:

• Bitlayer is a Layer 2 network designed to support smart contracts and DApps within the Bitcoin ecosystem.

• Bitlayer is the first major project leveraging the BitVM computational engine.

• The platform features compatibility with multiple VMs (including EVM), Turing-completeness, low gas fees and three-second block confirmation times.