Rootstock (RBTC) is an EVM- and smart contract–capable Layer 2 sidechain for Bitcoin designed for DeFi use cases.

 (DeFi) sector back in 2017 is firmly associated with the 

 (ETH) blockchain. It was Ethereum that introduced the concept of 

, and the first prominent DeFi protocols were all born on this blockchain. For a while, it seemed like 

 (BTC) stayed away from the emerging DeFi phenomenon. It’s only in the past few years that the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem, dubbed BTCFi, seemingly started to show the first signs of life. This impression is, however, not entirely correct. As early as January 2018, the first DeFi-focused 

 solution for Bitcoin — the Rootstock (RBTC) sidechain — celebrated its mainnet debut.

Rootstock remains the oldest and longest-running Layer 2 platform for the Bitcoin ecosystem. It’s smart contract-capable and highly compatible with the 

 (EVM). While the platform can support all kinds of 

 (DApps), it specifically focuses on the DeFi niche, with nearly all of its leading apps dedicated to crypto finance use cases. Along with smart contract functionality, Rootstock enjoys the famed security of Bitcoin, thanks to its merged mining with the world's largest chain. The sidechain also features superior scalability and lower transaction fees than Bitcoin’s 

With this combination of benefits, it’s no wonder that the Rootstock sidechain has managed to keep a leading position in the fast-developing BTCFi field all these years.

 (RBTC) is a smart contract–capable Layer 2 sidechain designed for Bitcoin DeFi applications. Rootstock's native cryptocurrency, RBTC, is an asset pegged to BTC at a 1:1 ratio.

 Users can transfer their BTC funds to the sidechain, where their coins are converted to RBTC. From then on, users are free to use the RBTC crypto to make use of Rootstock's extensive ecosystem of DeFi apps and tools. Rootstock represents a major way for Bitcoin holders to enjoy smart contract–powered DeFi applications without having to move their assets and activity to Ethereum or other smart contract chains.

Since the Bitcoin network has virtually no smart contract capabilities, many DeFi-minded BTC holders have to convert their funds to Ether or other smart contract chain coins to enjoy crypto finance opportunities on those blockchains. While Ethereum, 

 (ADA) and other prominent smart contract chains offer a diverse array of DeFi solutions, the problem with converting BTC to these coins is the loss of peg; e.g., by exchanging BTC to ETH, you’re decoupling your funds from the world's largest cryptocurrency, well regarded by many investors as the gold standard in crypto investment.

Rootstock solves this issue by offering a BTC-pegged asset, RBTC, that can be swapped back for BTC at any time and returned to the Bitcoin Layer 1 environment. The platform essentially lets you enjoy a plethora of DeFi opportunities while keeping your overall funds tightly pegged to BTC.

Rootstock features EVM compatibility through its Rootstock virtual machine (RVM). This makes porting Ethereum DApps to the sidechain a breeze. The platform also enjoys the security of Bitcoin through a merged mining procedure, whereby miners can use the hash power contributed to securing the Bitcoin network to simultaneously mine blocks on Rootstock as well.

Rootstock's block production time is just 30 seconds, twenty times as frequent as Bitcoin's 10-minute intervals. This allows for fast and efficient transaction processing. At the same time, to ensure complete security of operations, Rootstock normally requires that each transaction go through a minimum of 12 confirmations, which takes the total time for complete transaction finalization to six minutes.

 difficulty is considerably lower than Bitcoin's, and its network congestion isn't anywhere near the levels of Bitcoin or Ethereum. As a result, gas fees on the chain are notably lower than on Bitcoin and Ethereum, with an average transaction fee of around five cents.

The Rootstock sidechain was first conceptualized in 2015 by a group of Argentinian software engineers from RSK Labs. It was officially launched in January 2018, making it the oldest existing Bitcoin Layer 2 solution. In its earlier years of operation, the platform was known as the RSK blockchain, but rebranded to Rootstock in 2022. The project's co-founders are Diego Gutiérrez Zaldívar, Adriȧn Eidelman, Gabriel Kurman and Sergio Demian Lerner.

Rootstock uses an address system compatible with and similar to Ethereum's, with 40 alphanumeric characters and an account-based model. This differs from the 

 (UTXO) model employed for Bitcoin transactions. Transactions on the sidechain directly modify account balances, similar to Ethereum, rather than adjusting unspent output amounts.

This account-based address system ensures adherence to EVM compatibility and easy accommodation of DApps ported from EVM chains.

, known previously as the RSK virtual machine, is a processing engine used by the sidechain. It's EVM-compatible, allowing developers to easily port and adapt Ethereum smart contracts and DApps to the Rootstock environment. Additionally, developers can use Solidity, the primary programming language used within the Ethereum ecosystem, to build Rootstock-based applications.

The project's team tries to maintain compatibility between RVM and EVM carefully. Around once a year, the Ethereum developer community performs a 

 of the blockchain, upgrading it to a new version. The key goals of these upgrades are to introduce new functionality, address security concerns and improve existing features. If the new features introduced by Ethereum align with the ethos and goals of the Rootstock project, the team initiates a corresponding hard fork upgrade to the sidechain and RVM in order to maintain the snug compatibility between the processing engines of the two chains.

Rootstock's security mechanism is well protected, thanks to 

 with Bitcoin. Like Bitcoin's Layer 1, Rootstock uses the 

 (PoW) block generation procedure. Miners can merge-mine RBTC using the same 

 power they contribute to mining Bitcoin. This provides an excellent way for miners to earn additional crypto income without the need to contribute more computing capacity. Merged mining is also a key way for PoW blockchains to reduce their environmental impact.

Since the average block time on the Rootstock blockchain is only 30 seconds, miners can expect more frequent rewards from their block generation activity. In general, Rootstock's mining difficulty is lower than Bitcoin's, allowing less powerful mining machines to still generate income on the network.

Rootstock's mining rewards are paid out in RBTC, the BTC-pegged asset that we'll cover in more detail later in the article.

 is Rootstock's system to ensure a peg between BTC and RBTC and the secure transfer of assets between the sidechain and Bitcoin Layer 1. The Rootstock PowPeg allows anyone to lock BTC on the Bitcoin chain and get securely issued RBTC on the Rootstock side. PowPeg also facilitates the process of burning RBTC on Rootstock and receiving the requisite amount of BTC on Layer 1.

Rootstock PowPeg uses Bitcoin's PoW to maintain the security and integrity of the peg in conjunction with institutional nodes running specialized 

 devices. PowHSMs securely sign transactions involving the transfer of assets between Rootstock and Bitcoin. The group of nodes running PowHSMs, called the PowPeg Federation, is currently made up of nine reputable organizations in the blockchain sphere — BlockVenture, Luxor, Сollider, Сonstata, Mycointainer, pNetwork, Sovryn, Xapo and RootstockLabs.

Rootstock Smart Bitcoin (RBTC), previously known as RSK Bitcoin, is the platform's main cryptocurrency. RBTC is pegged to BTC at a ratio of 1:1 through the securely enabled PowPeg mechanism covered above. Like BTC on the Bitcoin blockchain, RBTC is used to pay transaction fees and reward miners on the Rootstock network. However, unlike BTC, RBTC can also be used within DApps for functions like collateral provision, lending, borrowing and more.

Given RBTC's peg to BTC, it’s not surprising that its tokenomics borrows some critical parameters from Bitcoin. RBTC's total supply is specified at 21 million, matching the 

The Rootstock platform also has a second token, RIF, primarily designed to support DApps that are part of the 

 (RIF) protocol, a layer built on top of the Rootstock chain for apps designed for staking, lending, payments and other DeFi use cases. There are currently several RIF DApps on Rootstock that can use the RIF token.

 within these DApps. It can also be staked on Rootstock to open up the opportunity to participate in on-platform 

. By staking RIF, you’re issued stRIF tokens, which enable you to participate in governance votes via the 

. This is the platform's primary governance entity, through which community members — users and developers — can influence the future direction and improvements to the sidechain and its ecosystem.

For instance, during the early stages of the DAO's operation, community members can vote on the allocation of ecosystem grants. In the future, decision-making on other initiatives (e.g., rewarding developers contributing to the growth of Rootstock) will be implemented.

RIF is a supply-capped token, with a total and maximum supply of 1 billion. The token's overall supply allocation shares, as outlined in the project's white paper, are as follows:

As a leading Bitcoin sidechain capable of executing smart contracts, Rootstock boasts a thriving ecosystem of DApps, primarily in the DeFi domain. As of mid-December 2024, the total number of applications, utility tools, wallets and other smart contract–enabled solutions on Rootstock stands at close to 180.

One of the leading applications on the chain is Sovryn, a decentralized Bitcoin trading and lending platform. Another popular DeFi app is 

 (AMM) built on the Ethereum blockchain. In addition to a plethora of DeFi apps, Rootstock has solutions for 

The Rootstock Runes Mock Bridge project allows developers to create Rune tokens on the sidechain. Introduced in April 2024, the 

 has opened a way to efficiently create Bitcoin-based fungible tokens by leveraging the blockchain's native UTXO transaction model. Rootstock's Runes Mock Bridge supports the process of creating these tokens by first etching Runes on a Bitcoin, and then mirroring their representations to the sidechain. The replication of Bitcoin-based Runes tokens on Rootstock is enabled via the ERC-1155 token standard. This is a standard utilized on EVM-compatible chains to transfer blockchain assets of both fungible and non-fungible varieties efficiently.

Rootstock Token Bridge is a bridging solution designed to facilitate the transfer of ERC-20 assets between the Rootstock sidechain and Ethereum. Although Rootstock and Ethereum share the same address format and model, sending assets between these chains directly via your wallet may not work. Instead, to transfer assets, you are advised to use the Rootstock Token Bridge, which will convert the transferred tokens to a requisite format.

 projects active on the Rootstock chain. One of these, NFTs2Me, allows you to create NFTs with no coding skills required. The other project, coNFT, is a comprehensive multichain platform that offers users a wide variety of NFT-focused products and services — 

 name service, analytics and more. coNFT has access to data and NFT services across over 100 blockchain platforms.

The oldest Bitcoin sidechain in existence, Rootstock continues to play a key role in the development of Bitcoin-linked DeFi — BTCFi. The platform's EVM compatibility also positions it as a major bridge between the Ethereum and Bitcoin ecosystems — the blockchain environments of the world's two leading cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Over the years, Rootstock has accumulated a comprehensive arsenal of DeFi solutions — DEXs, liquidity management apps, 

 platforms, lending and borrowing protocols, NFT utilities and more. At the same time, RBTC's peg to BTC presents a unique way for crypto users to enjoy these DeFi protocols while holding an asset tightly coupled with Bitcoin's market price.

Developers can also enjoy a familiar environment, with the Solidity programming language and an EVM-compatible account model utilized by the sidechain.

Importantly, Rootstock offers efficient transaction processing — supported by its 30-second block intervals — and lower transaction fees than either Ethereum or Bitcoin. With gas fees a major concern for users on both of these Layer 1 chains, Rootstock is a platform that deserves close attention from both DeFi users and developers.

Advanced

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Rootstock (RBTC): Boosting Bitcoin DeFi With Smart Contracts

Dive into World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance (DeFi) project inspired by Donald Trump, and its native WLFI token.

 (DeFi) project inspired by Donald Trump, the incoming president of the United States. The project aims to provide innovative financial solutions while leveraging the Trump brand's influence. This article will explore the project’s key features, the Trump family's involvement and the utility and tokenomics of the WLFI token.

 is a DeFi project designed to revolutionize modern financial transactions. This project operates on blockchain technology and integrates advanced DeFi tools that allow users to trade, earn and borrow with efficiency. 

 has publicly promoted the launch of World Liberty Financial and its native WLFI token.

On October 16, 2024, Donald Trump posted on X announcing that the project was live. His family members are also significantly involved in this exciting project. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are at the forefront, working diligently to develop the platform and promote its goals.

Barron Trump, just 18 years old and a freshman at NYU, has taken on the role of “Chief DeFi Visionary.” The Trump family has utilized social media to build interest in World Liberty Financial, asserting that it could transform personal finance management for individuals everywhere. Despite their involvement, the project claims to remain non-political and separate from any political campaign. 

Aside from Donald Trump and his family, there are other people on the team behind this DeFi initiative. The official website lists five co-founders: Chase Herro, Zak Folkman, Steven Witkoff, Zach Witkoff and Alex Witkoff. The project also features notable advisors, including Sandy Peng from Scroll and Luke Pearson from Polychain Capital.

Its primary mission is to empower users by providing them with tools for financial independence. Below are some key features.

World Liberty Financial Holdings has recently captured attention through its 

. The World Liberty Multisig wallet completed $12 million worth of transactions, demonstrating a clear strategy to build a well-rounded cryptocurrency portfolio.

 was 2,631 ETH for $10 million, purchased at $3,801 per token. Ethereum’s smart contract capabilities make it a cornerstone of many DeFi projects, solidifying this as a strategic decision for the platform. The wallet also secured 41,335 LINK for $1 million at $24.20 each. Additionally, $1 million was allocated to purchase 3,357 AAVE at $297.80 per token. AAVE is a leader in DeFi, offering seamless lending and borrowing solutions.

The WLFI token is important in the World Liberty Financial ecosystem. Built as an ERC-20 token, it powers several essential functions on the platform:

The tokenomics of WLFI include a total supply of 100 billion tokens. Below is an outline of its distribution structure:

The launch of the WLFI token has faced significant challenges and has failed to meet its initial sales targets. Investors showed less interest than anticipated, leading to sluggish sales for the World Liberty Financial project. This disappointing start raised concerns about the project's viability in the competitive decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape. Despite the backing of Donald Trump, the token struggled to attract the expected level of investment during its initial offering.

In a surprising turn of events, Justin Sun, the founder of the TRON blockchain, stepped in with a substantial 

. Sun's purchase allowed him to acquire over half of all WLFI tokens sold, positioning him as the largest investor in the project.

World Liberty Financial aims to make a significant impact in the DeFi sector, which has largely underperformed throughout the current bull market. The potential of clearer regulations for the wider crypto industry under the incoming Trump administration has boosted investors’ hopes for a revival of the DeFi space. 

Furthermore, backing from the Trump family has drawn considerable attention to the World Liberty Financial project. However, it’s essential for potential investors to 

 before committing funds to avoid scams and ensure safe engagement with financial projects.

Intermediate

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World Liberty Financial: Trump's DeFi Project

Koma Inu is a dog-themed meme coin built on BNB Chain that uses cute Shiba Inu puppies to promote its crypto on a variety of social media sites. Learn more.

 in 2013, animal-themed meme coins have been a critical part of the crypto ecosystem. At any given time, the market contains multiple dog-based coins vying for supremacy. Koma Inu is one of the latest crypto meme coins to make waves on the crypto market. As the self-proclaimed "son of 

," Koma hopes to appeal to fans of traditional 

 while offering some new perks. Can Koma Inu stand out from the pack and achieve success? Explore this guide to find out.

 is a dog-themed meme coin built on BNB Chain. It uses cute Shiba Inu puppies to promote its crypto on a variety of social media sites, and markets itself as a fresh new take on old classics.

Koma Inu hopes not just to be fun and entertaining, but to improve on older meme coins. As a next-generation meme coin, Koma Inu plans to address some common complaints investors have about these assets. First of all, Koma Inu aims to be more secure, promising to provide independent audits and transparent practices. 

 schemes, Koma Inu has a phased liquidity locking scheme. The platform believes this will restore public trust in meme coins, since it prevents the Koma Inu team from being able to withdraw funds before the coin has a chance to fully take off. 

Finally, Koma Inu plans to promote the Binance ecosystem. By using BNB as the basis for its coin, Koma Inu believes it can showcase the flexibility and usability of the Binance blockchain — and that its cryptocurrency can unite the Binance community behind a collection of charming, cute memes.

The majority of Koma Inu's technology is run through the Binance blockchain. KOMA is a BNB token, essentially Binance's version of the 

 token standard. Meme coin creators can create their own customized version of BNB that runs on the Binance blockchain, while still personalizing other parameters, such as token name and supply. 

The other key provider of Koma Inu technology is 

. Koma Inu uses this locking service to securely lock away all of its tokens. Floki's 

 prevent any users from gaining access to KOMA before the tokens are unlocked. This setup ensures that users can trade their personal KOMA stores without worrying about the Koma Inu team suddenly flooding the market with extra tokens.

KOMA has a total token supply of 1 billion tokens. However, Koma Inu is designed to be a 

 events once certain milestones are reached. It will also have its liquidity provision tokens permanently locked. 

Since it started hitting crypto markets in mid-2024, the KOMA token has gone through some impressive price shifts. Despite starting at around $.002 per token, KOMA prices have skyrocketed to almost $0.20. With coin prices increasing by 170% in just 24 hours, the Koma Inu token has become a newsworthy crypto. It's currently sitting on the list of 

 by market cap, and its value has grown by over 5,753% since its release. 

A lot of this popularity seems to be due to Koma Inu's prestigious partnerships. Even before its 

 (ICO) in October 2024, premarket sales of KOMA were already spiking in the summer of 2024 due to support from the Binance community. The token gradually began picking up steam, and since a small pump in November it's had a fairly bullish outlook. News that Koma Inu would be the 

 further spiked token prices, starting in December. With the news that Koma Inu had won this prestigious grant, KOMA’s price more than tripled. 

Though Koma Inu isn't likely to retain this level of popularity indefinitely, many market indicators suggest it will continue to perform well. It’s captured the attention of a lot of meme coin investors, and each new price increase is resulting in a new wave of articles about the token. KOMA has shown that its popularity is often boosted by good press, so if the team can further capitalize on its funding from DWF with new features, it may eventually become a well-known meme coin indeed.

Looking to trade Koma Inu tokens? Bybit now offers the KOMAUSDT Perpetual contract for trading. To get started, you’ll first need to create a Bybit account, then fund it with cryptocurrency and navigate to the 

Ultimately, KOMA seems like a well-designed meme coin. It's backed by a reliable team that has plenty of experience with meme coins, and it has partnered with many reputable companies, such as DWF Labs and BNB Chain. Compared to many other meme coins, Koma Inu has more support and a more defined plan for the future. This should help to provide some long-term success, and prevent the coin from becoming a pump-and-dump.

However, even the best-designed meme coin still has a lot of inherent volatility. In order to succeed, KOMA will need to capture the attention of the market, and random news or investor whims could cause unexpected price shifts. Therefore, it’s recommended to remain cautious when planning your investments. Make sure you keep your portfolio diverse, and avoid financially overextending yourself to invest in Koma Inu or any other cryptocurrency.

Koma Inu is a great example of how a meme coin can be both fun and practical. By blending a well-designed tokenomics scheme with cohesive dog memes, Koma Inu has already begun to receive plenty of positive press. Though this token is still fairly new, it's already poised to compete with competitors like 

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Koma Inu (KOMA): Ringing in a New Era of Dog-Themed Tokens

Saga has launched Mainnet 2.0, which transforms blockchain economics by addressing liquidity challenges and eliminating gas fees for users. 

The S&P 500 dropped 0.39%, with most sectors declining. Nvidia and Broadcom fell, while Tesla gained. Investors await a Fed rate cut amid inflation concerns. Coindesk Indices, an index measuring broader cryptocurrency market performance was down by 3.89%, with Bitcoin rising by 0.80% and Ether dropping by 2.90%, in the past 24 hours.

Today's top performer is XRP, which surged 3.3% following the global launch of Ripple USD (RLUSD), setting new standards for stablecoins.

Ripple (XRP), launched in August 2012, is a blockchain technology company focused on improving international payments with its cryptocurrency, XRP. 

, as a stablecoin backed by U.S. dollar deposits and government bonds. Initially available on platforms like Uphold and Bitso, RLUSD aims to set new standards for stablecoins with a focus on trust, utility, and compliance. It supports cross-border payments, DeFi integration, and financial use cases on both XRP Ledger and Ethereum.

Check Out the Latest Prices, Charts, and Data of 

, which transforms blockchain economics by addressing liquidity challenges and eliminating gas fees for users. The upgrade lays the groundwork for the Liquidity Integration Layer (LiL), set to launch in Q1 2025, creating a unified liquidity environment across blockchains. Saga also partners with Uniswap, deploying Uniswap v3 on its multichain protocol for gasless trading, enhancing accessibility to decentralized finance (DeFi). Saga’s unique tokenomics model removes gas fees, simplifies cross-chain asset movement, and enables true interoperability, marking a significant shift in blockchain operations.

Yesterday, BTC Spot ETF flows recorded a total outflow of $247.5M, comprising $84.7M from GBTC and $162.8M from non-GBTC funds.

, offering 1 billion FUEL tokens (10% of the total supply) to over 200,000 eligible addresses. Tokens can be claimed from Dec 19, 2024, to Jan 19, 2025. Additionally, 20% of the total FUEL supply is allocated to the community, with 10% for the Genesis Drop, 5% for community expansion, and 5% for future incentives. Users are advised to beware of impersonator accounts.

Beginner

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Saga Mainnet 2.0 Launches with Uniswap v3, Promising Gasless Trading and Unified Liquidity

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