Since the development of this bull market, the construction of the Bitcoin ecosystem has gradually prospered. This article will summarize the five current popular Bitcoin-related public chains for readers. This article is sourced from DODOResearch and organized and written by PANews.
Table of Contents:
BounceBit
Merlin Chain
B2 Network
BOB
Mezo
Author’s Perspective
With the reduction of Bitcoin mining rewards, this bull market was initiated by the narrative of BTC ETF and is currently experiencing a wave of pullbacks due to the upcoming Bitcoin halving. The Bitcoin ecosystem has undergone significant changes compared to six months ago. VC institutions are actively entering the market. In addition to the fair launch of memes driven by the community, there have also been many public chain projects led by venture capital institutions or exchanges, such as BTC L2 or repledge chains.
In this week’s CryptoSnap, Dr. DODO will introduce five popular BTC-related public chains and their capital support.
BounceBit
BounceBit is a public chain that uses the value of BTC as its security basis and boasts expanding the use cases of Bitcoin through its Restaking mechanism. It recently announced that its token $BB will be listed on the Megadrop token issuance platform of Binance Web3 wallet. After receiving public investment from BinanceLab, BounceBit’s popularity has surged. Now, it has announced a partnership with Binance Web3 wallet, making $BB one of the few new BTC projects supported by Binance, attracting more users and funds.
Different from other BTC L2s that rely on the security of the Bitcoin chain, BounceBit focuses on building an independent POS public chain based on the value of BTC. By cooperating with CeFi asset management institutions and using various forms of fee arbitrage, users can earn additional income from their BTC holdings. The $BBTC certificates obtained by users through pledging can be used to run BounceBit Chain nodes or obtain $BB token rewards through the LST protocol. In addition, the introduction of the Restaking mechanism allows other applications in the BounceBit ecosystem to rely on $BBTC in the nodes to complete other verification tasks, such as oracles and cross-chain bridges.
Currently, BounceBit is still running its incentive program, allowing users to earn points by depositing assets such as wBTC and BTCB. This program will continue until the start of Metadrop.
Merlin Chain
Merlin Chain has the highest TVL among the five projects introduced today, exceeding $950 million. It is also the earliest BTC EVM L2 mainnet, and its token $MERL has recently been listed on top exchanges such as OKX and Bybit.
Merlin Chain is invested by institutions such as The Sparta Group and OKX Ventures. It is a Layer2 solution built on top of Bitcoin, adopting both OP-Rollup and ZK-Rollup architectures and calling it optimistic ZK-Rollup. It introduces a decentralized oracle network (Oracle) as the Data Availability Committee (DAC) to solve data availability issues.
Specifically, Merlin’s sequencer sends transaction data to Oracle nodes and Prover nodes (using lumoz’s Prover as a Service). Oracle nodes are responsible for verifying ZK Proofs and publishing the verification results to the Bitcoin chain (ZK-Rollup). As Bitcoin cannot fully verify ZK Proofs, a fraud proof mechanism is imported to allow others to challenge the verification process (OP-Rollup), ensuring the security of the network.
Merlin’s ecosystem projects are currently the most developed among BTC L2s. The TVL of Solv Funds, Avalon Finance, and MerlinSwap DEX protocols has all exceeded $100 million. However, after the successful launch of $MERL, one needs to pay attention to whether there will be a large number of airdrop hunters moving their funds elsewhere.
B2 Network
B2 Network is also a BTC EVM Layer2 project, invested by institutions such as Hashkey Capital, OKX Ventures, and Kucoin Lab. In terms of technical architecture, B2 Network is similar to Merlin Chain as it also adopts the optimistic ZK-Rollup with both ZK-Rollup and OP-Rollup. It collaborates with Polygon Lab to extend Polygon CDK to BTC through the zkEVM solution, allowing users to interact with EVM wallets and BTC wallets, taking into account the habits of both ecosystems. Furthermore, since BTC cannot store large amounts of data, B2 Network has built its own DA Layer B2 Node and plans to upgrade it to B2 Hub in the future, providing a data availability layer and state verification/proof system based on the Bitcoin network for other developers to use with Polygon CDK and B2 Hub to build their own Bitcoin Rollup.
The biggest difference between B2 Network and other BTC Layer2s is that its vision is not limited to a single BTC Layer2 but aims to become the center of BTC Layer2s, similar to Cosmos Hub or Op Stack.
B2 Network also launched its mainnet during the Bitcoin halving. The first phase of the lock-up airdrop activity has ended, and the second phase of random airdrop is now underway. Users who bridge their BTC to the B2 Network mainnet have the opportunity to receive airdrops when the protocol token is released. This activity has no specific time limit and may end at any time.
BOB
BOB (Build On Bitcoin) is also a BTC EVM Layer2 project invested by institutions such as Castle Island and Coinbase Ventures. It has raised $10 million in seed funding.
In BOB’s roadmap, BOB divides its technology into three stages. In the first stage, BOD L2 will launch its mainnet in the form of Ethereum OP Rollup, with settlement occurring on Ethereum. It tracks the Bitcoin state through a Bitcoin light node, verifies block headers, and accepts transaction inclusion proofs to achieve trustless cross-chain operations.
In the second stage, BOB will introduce Bitcoin PoW security and use the new merged mining protocol OptiMine to separate block production and PoW. The BOB sequencer processes transactions and blocks, and Bitcoin miners verify the BOB Rollup state. Only when the state transition is correct will miners include the commitment as part of the PoW, minimizing trust in the sequencer. Finally, the sequencer submits data covering PoW commitments to Ethereum, using Ethereum as the DA Layer to verify data availability.
In the third stage, Bitcoin will be introduced as the settlement layer. BOB’s goal is to introduce Bitcoin as the settlement layer (currently under research). One possible solution is to introduce ZK compression as part of the fraud proof process and collaborate with ZK infrastructure providers. BOB will also design BOB light clients, build bidirectional bridges, and develop the BitVM program to ultimately achieve BOB Rollup state verification.
These three stages demonstrate BOB’s development path from the initial optimistic Ethereum Rollup to the introduction of Bitcoin PoW security, and finally to using Bitcoin as the settlement layer. Through this progressive hybrid design, BOB aims to inherit the security of Bitcoin and the programmability of Ethereum, providing an innovative Layer-2 solution for the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem.
Currently, BOB is conducting its first season of the point activity, allowing users to earn points by depositing tokens such as tBTC, WBTC, stablecoins, and ETH LST. However, with the implementation of the halving event, the official announcement states that the mainnet will be launched on April 24. At that time, the first season activity will end, and the second season of the point activity will begin. Details have not been disclosed yet.
Mezo
Mezo, recently announced to have raised $21 million in funding led by Pantera Capital with participation from top venture capital firms such as Multicoin and Hack VC, is a new Bitcoin public chain developed by the Thesis team, which created the BTC-backed asset tBTC. They describe themselves as the infrastructure of Bitcoin and are committed to building an application ecosystem based on users’ economic needs, focusing on expanding BTC application scenarios. They refer to their consensus mechanism as Proof of HODL, which protects the network by users locking BTC and MEZO tokens and executing CometBFT consensus to validate transactions.
Mezo is also conducting a HODL point activity, allowing users to earn points by depositing native BTC, WBTC, or tBTC. Currently, Mezo has not disclosed many technical details. All deposits in Mezo are stored in a locking contract controlled by the team’s multisig. It will bridge the funds until the Mezo mainnet launches.
Author’s Perspective
The public chain narrative has always been the most valued and well-financed track in the blockchain ecosystem. Many institutions are eager not to miss this wave of Bitcoin narrative-driven bull markets and have launched various public chain projects linked to Bitcoin concepts. From a practical perspective, does Bitcoin really need these L2s? Or, in other words, do cryptocurrency users care whether the underlying chain they use is BTC or EVM?
From the author’s point of view, the more appropriate way to participate may be to judge the capital behind each project and participate in airdrop lock-up and point activities early to obtain free tokens. Other than that, one can pay attention to whether there are top-level Memecoins or official endorsements after the mainnet launch.
Related Reports:
Will Bitcoin Layer2 Solutions Experience a Surge After the Halving, Driving Mass Adoption?
Waterdrip Capital Report: The Past, Present, and Future of Bitcoin Layer2
Will Bitcoin Layer2 Solutions Experience a Surge? An In-depth Analysis of Ecosystem Development, On-chain Applications, and Scaling Solutions