Computing on Bitcoin #37
May 02, 2025 - Week 18
The latest Computing on Bitcoin News is live!
Find the most important developments from across the ecosystem: ZK tech, Layer 2s, cross-chain bridges, and beyond.
Give it a read and let us know what you think.
Enjoy your reading!
Bitlayer has integrated its BitVM Bridge with the Monad Testnet, enabling users to bridge vBTC from BitVMNet to Monad and mint YBTC.
blog.bitlayer.org
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Bitlayer BitVM Bridge Integrates Monad Testnet, Unlocking New Experiences for Millions of Users
Monad, an emerging high-performance Layer 1, quickly gained significant user engagement after its testnet launched on February 19th. According to Flipside data, the network now boasts over 9.8 million active users, more than 69 million unique wallets, and has processed over 600 million transactions, making it one of the most vibrant blockchain ecosystems currently.
Jeremy Rubin proposes a new approach to improve BitVM bridges, responding to recent concerns raised by Robin Linus. His method uses legacy transactions and a non-standard script that remains within Bitcoin’s consensus rules, aiming to fix bridge issues without introducing new attack vectors.
delvingbitcoin.org/
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How CTV+CSFS improves BitVM bridges
The current BitVM bridge design relies on emulated covenants to guarantee safety of the deposits. This committee requires a 1-of-n trust assumption and introduces various undesirable complexities in practice. Up until recently we had assumed that CTV is not sufficient to replace the committee because CTV is designed to commit only to outputs but not to inputs. However, it turned out that there is a trick that enables the functionality that we need.
OP_NET introduces a system for deploying smart contracts directly on Bitcoin’s Layer 1 using WebAssembly and Tapscript. It enables native BTC applications like swaps and lending without bridges or protocol changes, aligning with initiatives such as BitVM and OP_CAT.
htwtech.medium.com
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OP_NET: if Bitcoin had smart contracts from day one
One of the core ideas behind OP_NET is simplifying how people and contracts interact. OP_NET uses public keys as universal identifiers, removing address-format complexity — for both users and developers.
The result? You can build and deploy token contracts, lending platforms, and Telegram bots — all while staying native to Bitcoin.
Symbiosis Finance has highlighted the role of BitVMX in enabling native Bitcoin bridging. By leveraging off-chain computation and fraud proofs secured by Bitcoin, BitVMX allows developers to deploy advanced logic without altering Bitcoin's base layer.
symbiosis.finance
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How Bitcoin Is Going Cross-Chain in 2025: Native BTC Enters DeFi
BTCFi – short for Bitcoin Finance – is the emerging world of decentralized finance that actually uses Bitcoin itself, not a placeholder version of it. Beyond advancements in Bitcoin’s programmability (think Taproot, Layer 2s, and sidechains), BTC now has a newfound agility thanks to modern bridging solutions.
As a result, users can provide liquidity to DEXs that support native BTC, stake BTC or rBTC on yield protocols, use BTC as collateral in lending markets without needing to port it to Ethereum, and even participate in synthetic stablecoins and perpetuals on Bitcoin-native DeFi rails.
That wraps up this week’s edition of Computing on Bitcoin News.
Stay tuned, keep exploring.
Until next week!