On July 2, the hybrid Layer2 project BOB (Build on Bitcoin) announced that it has officially enabled native BTC on its BitVM Testnet. This testnet 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 launch on the BOB mainnet in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The successful launch of native BTC on the BitVM Testnet has cemented BOB’s position as the “home” of Bitcoin Decentralized Finance, as it introduces native BTC (rather than wrapped BTC) into its extensive Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem, fundamentally differing from other wrapped BTC that rely on centralized custodians or multi-signature in the current DeFi landscape. 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, referred to as “BTC.”

It is reported that the BOB BitVM Testnet partners are all members of the BitVM Alliance, which is committed to advancing BitVM from theoretical research to practical application. Alliance members are working together to support the Testnet experiment by running or launching BOB BitVM nodes. The participation of these leading DeFi players has significantly accelerated the practice and implementation of BitVM.

This also marks the first operation of BitVM infrastructure by partners outside of the BitVM Alliance (a collaborative 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 the BitVM Alliance, stated: “Our vision has always been to place Bitcoin at the core of the Decentralized Finance system, and BitVM makes this vision possible. With the launch of native Bitcoin on BOB, guaranteed by the Bitcoin native network, there is no need to trust any third-party centralized institutions.”

In addition, Alexei Zamyatin predicts that Bitcoin DeFi will experience explosive growth in the near future, and the construction of BitVM infrastructure will help unlock trillions of dollars in Bitcoin liquidity within the multi-chain ecosystem. Alexei Zamyatin stated, “The release of the BitVM Testnet involves a wide range of partners—investment institutions, infrastructure providers, liquidity providers (LPs), and DeFi protocols. Here, I would like to especially thank 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 BitVM Testnet is a natural extension of Solv’s mission: to unlock trillions of dollars in liquidity and yield from native Bitcoin assets. We believe that BitVM represents a path to trustless BTC DeFi, and BOB’s BitVM Testnet confirms this. The trustless architecture of BitVM perfectly aligns with our vision: to achieve institutional-grade yield entirely based on the Bitcoin protocol itself and to bring that yield into Bitcoin,” said Ryan Chow, Co-founder and CEO of Solv Protocol.

“At P2P.org, we firmly believe that the potential of Bitcoin lies in its ability to become the foundation of DeFi systems, and not just a dormant digital gold. The BitVM bridge from BOB signifies a fundamental breakthrough, enabling native BTC to participate in DeFi systems 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 considered BitVM to be the missing piece in unlocking the trillions of dollars of liquidity in Bitcoin,” said Artemiy Parshakov, Vice President of Institutional Business at P2P.org.

As a hybrid Layer2 chain, BOB integrates the advantages of the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks, providing the best entry point for Bitcoin DeFi. This unique hybrid Layer2 model has made substantial improvements to the existing BitVM bridge design:

• Data availability based on Ethereum: Using 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 features as Ethereum sidechains like Arbitrum or Base.
• Split 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, allowing for role specialization, matching institutional products, thereby improving efficiency and lowering capital thresholds.
• Collateral Reuse: Based on research from 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)It 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—the security of Bitcoin and dormant BTC capital, along with the DeFi innovations and versatility of Ethereum. By positioning BTC as the pillar of a 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 using the BitVM protocol and creates trust-minimized bridges between BOB, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other L1 networks. Therefore, 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.

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