What You Need to Know:
- The Bitcoin DeFi landscape is evolving into a more secure and economical option, largely thanks to the contributions from the layer-2 project Rootstock, as per a recent report from Messari.
- Rootstock is currently safeguarded by 81% of Bitcoin’s total hashing power, as noted by Messari.
- The growth momentum of Rootstock is paving the way for increased adoption of Bitcoin DeFi through the remainder of 2025.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) on the Bitcoin blockchain may still be nascent compared to Ethereum, but Bitcoin DeFi (BTCFi) is gaining in safety and affordability, according to Messari’s latest report.
Prominent in this space is Rootstock, among the earliest Bitcoin layer-2 projects, highlighted in the ‘State of Rootstock’ report published on Thursday.
Rootstock now benefits from 81% of Bitcoin’s total hashrate, indicating that miners who control this hashrate are also validating transactions on this layer-2 solution. Previously, this figure stood at only 56% before the integration of Foundry and Spiderpool, the world’s largest and sixth-largest mining pools, respectively, in February.
Moreover, Messari has noted that transaction fees on Rootstock are 95% lower than typical Bitcoin transactions and 55% less than those on Ethereum.
Rootstock is one of several efforts aiming to enhance Bitcoin’s utility by broadening the options for DeFi with smart contracts, facilitated by ‘BitVMX’, a modified version of the BitVM programming language. Other notable Bitcoin layer-2 initiatives encompass Stacks and BOB (“Build on Bitcoin”).
The project has also established connections with bridging protocol LayerZero, allowing Rootstock-native applications to interconnect with numerous other blockchains, including Ethereum and Solana. The ongoing momentum suggests that BTCFi adoption will likely escalate throughout 2025, according to Messari.
“As BTCFi expands, Rootstock is strategically positioned for increased adoption through significant upgrades, such as a 60% cut in transaction fees, and ongoing investment in builder education and incentive schemes,” stated Messari analyst Andrew Yang.
Read More: Bitcoin’s Role in DeFi Is ‘Untapped Opportunity,’ Binance Research Says
