Introduction

Build on Bitcoin (BOB), Botanix, and Citrea plan to bring DeFi, perps, stablecoins, and much more to the Bitcoin ecosystem. Here’s how.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

In this episode of Unchained, host Laura interviews Alexei Zamyatin, co-founder of Build on Bitcoin, Willem Schroé, founder of Botanix Labs, and Orkun Kılıç, co-founder of Chainway Labs. They discuss their respective projects, all of which are focused on developing Layer 2 solutions for Bitcoin. 

Zamyatin's Build on Bitcoin is a hybrid Layer 2 that connects to both Bitcoin and Ethereum, aiming to bring innovation back to the Bitcoin ecosystem. Schroé's Botanix Labs is developing a decentralized Layer 2 solution using the ‘Spiderchain,’ which uses a series of multi-signature wallets to secure the chain. Kılıç's Chainway Labs is building Citrea, a zk-Rollup on Bitcoin that aims to create a Bitcoin-backed economy. 

All three projects are in various stages of development and testing, with BOB’s mainnet launch expected shortly.

Show highlights:

• Introduction to Build on Bitcoin (BOB), Botanix, and Citrea: How they aim to innovate and expand Bitcoin's capabilities, including their architectural designs that integrate Ethereum users and work toward decentralization and trustlessness.
• Security Aspects and Integration Strategies: What the security risks associated with BOB, Botanix, and Citrea are, and strategies to enhance decentralization over time?
• How these layer 2s influence Bitcoin fees, and how Botanix's integration can leverage the Bitcoin ecosystem, with insights on the potential of Layer 3s and zk-rollups to transform Bitcoin's utility and fee dynamics.
• How these projects aim to attract Ethereum users and developers, and the reasons why this may be an attractive opportunity for them
• How Runes, Ordinals, and BRC-20s operate on Citrea, Botanix, and BOB
• How Bitcoin is always a derivative when it’s not in its layer 1 and the pros and cons of different bridging solutions
• The concept of forward secrecy and how it can help improve security in blockchains
• Why Willem believes that Layer 3s are possible and bullish for Bitcoin
• How ‘merged mining” resembles Ethereum’s restaking and why it’s positive for Bitcoin

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Thank you to our sponsors! Polkadot

Guests | 

Willem Schroé, founder of Botanix Labs 

Orkun Kılıç, cofounder of Chainway Labs 

Alexei Zamyatin, cofounder of Build on Bitcoin

Links | 

Recent coverage on Unchained of Bitcoin L2s:

Stacks’ Muneeb Ali On Why Bitcoin Is Exciting Once Again

Build on Bitcoin

• BOB learning documents
• Announcement of mainnet on May 1st.
• Unchained: Bitcoin DeFi App Sovryn to Deploy on Hybrid Layer 2 Network Build on Bitcoin
• Alexei’s tweet on BitVM/rollups 
• Alexei went on a retreat with the inventor of BitVM

Citrea

• Unchained: Here's What You Should Know About Citrea, Bitcoin's First ZK Rollup
• Whitepaper
• Orkun Mahir Kılıç’s interview on Unchained Premium
• Citrea learning documents
• Clementine -Citrea's BitVM Based Trust-Minimized Two-Way Peg Program

Botanix

• CoinDesk: Willem Schroé: Building Botanix, a Bitcoin Layer 2 That Brings the EVM to Bitcoin
• Botanix and the Future of Bitcoin
• Bitcoin Magazine: Spiderchains: A Proof Of Stake Second Layer For Bitcoin
• Willem Schroé’s interview on Unchained Premium

Learn More |

Unchained:

What Is the OP_CAT Bitcoin Improvement Proposal? 

What Are Opcodes in Bitcoin? A Beginner's Guide 

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Unchained Podcast is Produced by Laura Shin Media, LLC.  Distributed by CoinDesk. Senior Producer is Michele Musso and Executive Producer is Jared Schwartz. 

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