Latest news with #WillemSchroé
Forbes
01-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Year Of The Spider: Enter The Botanix EVM-Compatible Bitcoin Layer 2
The Glass Spider Tour, David Bowie, Festivalground, Werchter, Belgium, 02/06/1987. (Photo by Gie ...) For nearly a decade, Alisia Painter has seen firsthand how the world's largest cryptocurrency remained largely static – bought, sold, and held, but rarely put to work. But after years of watching bitcoin's potential remain largely untapped, Painter and her team began building Botanix two and a half years ago with a simple question: if bitcoin has established itself as the premier cryptocurrency, why isn't anything being built on it? The answer lies in the fact that bitcoin's original design prioritized security and decentralization over programmability. While smart contracts flourished on networks like Ethereum and Solana that promoted these capabilities, bitcoin retained primarily a store of value function despite having the largest market capitalization and adoption of any cryptocurrency. During an interview with me for Roxom TV at Bitcoin Las Vegas, Painter explained that the vast majority of bitcoiners only engage in three basic activities: buy, sell and hodl. Digital Gold to Programmable Money Botanix Labs, the company Painter co-founded alongside Willem Schroé, is looking to change that mindset. On July 1 it launched the Botanix mainnet with the aim to transforming bitcoin from digital gold into programmable money that can power a full financial ecosystem. She emphasized that up until now, the growth of decentralized and on-chain finance over the last five years has largely bypassed the bitcoin world: The Botanix blockchain looks to empower bitcoiners by bringing smart contract functionality directly to the $2 trillion bitcoin network without compromising on core principles. The Botanix Labs team claims that the network is the first fully-decentralized bitcoin Layer 2 that is also Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible, meaning that it can support smart contracts originally created to be run on Ethereum. Enter the Spiderchain Security is always a key consideration when introducing any new product to bitcoin's battle-heartened community. For Botanix, the unlocking innovation is the "Spiderchain," a novel cryptographic primitive that enables bitcoin scaling while maintaining full decentralization. While communicating this innovative security model to the community has been a challenge, Painter said that even the most diehard hodl-ers are growing more comfortable with the concept: While other similar bitcoin onchain finance solutions rely on bridges to other blockchains that pose security risks, Botanix operates entirely within the bitcoin ecosystem – minimizing the risk of funds lost due to bridge hacks and reliance on centralized custodians. To ensure full decentralization of the network from the outset, governance of Botanix has been formally shifted away from Botanix Labs to an independent federation of 16 independent node operators, including Fireblocks, Galaxy, Alchemy, Kiln, XBTO, Antpool and others. There are plans to expand this federation to 100 operators by 2026. In a statement, Botanix Labs co-founder Schroé elaborated: The Botanix mainnet launch brings with it more than 40 new applications going live simultaneously, affording users the ability to trade, borrow, lend, stake, and provide liquidity to earn bitcoin native yield. These applications include major protocols like the perpetuals decentralized exchange GMX and the Dolomite lending protocol, as well as bitcoin-native applications like Bitzy and Palladium, the world's first bitcoin-backed stablecoin. Why the emphasis on yield generation? Because hardcore bitcoiners don't want to sell their coins, Painter explains. Rather, they want to use them as collateral to borrow against. The team emphasizes that users of these applications will see a significantly improved user experience compared to bitcoin mainnet – namely five second block times on Botanix compared to 10 minutes on bitcoin – with average transaction fees of just $0.02. While some factions argue that bringing programmability and related features to bitcoin is a diversion from its original vision and a potential security threat, Painter argues that bringing increased utility is essential for driving new adoption: Bitcoin Programmability Key to Emerging Markets For Painter, the launch represents more than just technological achievement. Rather, it's about fulfilling bitcoin's original promise as peer-to-peer electronic cash while addressing the financial inclusion challenges that first drew her to the space. Her journey into Bitcoin began in 2015 while living in Brazil, where she encountered the same financial pain points that she had witnessed across other parts of the world: limited banking access, volatile national currencies, and barriers to moving money globally. She saw how bitcoin could provide a pristine asset to populations who otherwise have no such access to something of such quality. Furthermore, she emphasized that programmability and usability of bitcoin is critical to unlocking its full potential in underserved parts of the world:
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin Layer-2 Botanix Mainnet Debuts, Cuts Block Times to 5 Seconds
The mainnet of Botanix, a network designed to bring Ethereum-equivalent utility to the Bitcoin ecosystem, has gone live, slashing the time it takes to add new blocks to five seconds from 10 minutes. The network is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), the software that powers the Ethereum blockchain, allowing Ethereum-based applications and smart contracts to be copied and pasted onto Bitcoin, developer Botanix Labs said in an email. Botanix is one of several projects attempting to scale the Bitcoin blockchain and make it a more conducive venue for decentralized finance (DeFi) by enhancing its utility and programmability. Others include Rootstock, Stacks and BOB ("Build on Bitcoin"), which have all adopted the BitVM computing paradigm that can make complex computations verifiable on Bitcoin, paving the way for smart-contract provision, similar to Ethereum's. The expansion of Bitcoin's utility would allow developers to take advantage of the value held in BTC, which dwarfs that of all other digital assets. Botanix Labs also emphasized its decentralized governance structure. The mainnet launch coincides with its transition to being operated by a foundation of 16 node operators. Botanix said it expects the number to grow beyond 100 in 2026. The founding federation includes some of the biggest names in cryptocurrency, including as Mike Novogratz's financial services firm Galaxy Digital and crypto custody specialist Fireblocks. "If we want a world that runs on Bitcoin, we have to build systems that honor its core principles of self-custody, open participation and global fault tolerance,' Botanix Labs CEO Willem Schroé said. 'Too many Bitcoiners have been burned by centralized platforms, which is why Botanix is fully decentralized at launch. No single party, including us, can touch a user's Bitcoin." Several products that will form the basis of Botanix's Bitcoin DeFi (BTCFi) offering also debuted in conjunction the mainnet launch. These include BTC-backed stablecoin Palladium and decentralized exchange Bitzy. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Insider
01-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Botanix Launches Mainnet to Power the Bitcoin Economy with Chainlink, Fireblocks, GMX, Dolomite and Others
New York, United States, July 1st, 2025, Chainwire Botanix is the first and only EVM-equivalent Bitcoin L2 that is decentralized from the start meaning no single entity, including Botanix Labs, can unilaterally influence or control the network as the network is run by a growing federation of industry-leading node operators. Users can now trade, lend, borrow, stake, pay, LP, leverage, go short, go long, and stay stable all in bitcoin on Bitcoin, with an expanding ecosystem of Bitcoin-native applications. Launching today, Bitcoin 2100 is a retro-futuristic immersive experience where players can earn bitcoin by exploring a world built on Bitcoin. Each house in the experience highlights a live app on the Botanix network, making it a fun way to discover what's possible when Bitcoin becomes programmable. Botanix Labs, the protocol research team developing Botanix, the Bitcoin-based blockchain that powers the Bitcoin economy, today announced the launch of Botanix mainnet, with live applications including GMX and Dolomite, and ecosystem partners such as Chainlink and Fireblocks now active on the network. This milestone also marks the launch of new Bitcoin-native applications committed to building exclusively on the network, including Arch, Bitzy, Palladium, and Rover. With the launch of Botanix, Bitcoin users experience a significant improvement in transaction times, with block times reducing from 10 minutes to five seconds, and $0.02 transaction fees on average. Mainnet goes live just days after Botanix officially transitioned governance and consensus to a 16-node founding federation of independent node operators, including Galaxy, Fireblocks, Alchemy, Antpool, XBTO, Kiln, Chorus One, and others. With this transition and the support of the Spiderchain, a novel Bitcoin scaling cryptographic primitive, Botanix becomes the first and only secure Bitcoin-based blockchain that is decentralized from inception, which means no single entity, including Botanix Labs, has control over the network. Botanix expects the operator set to expand beyond 100 in 2026. 'We've spent the last two years building Botanix to give Bitcoin real utility without compromising on self-custody,' said Willem Schroé, CEO and Co-Founder of Botanix Labs. 'Too many Bitcoiners have been burned by centralized platforms, which is why Botanix is fully decentralized at launch. No single party, including us, can touch a user's Bitcoin, and that's why I'm incredibly excited to see mainnet go live and finally put real tools into the hands of Bitcoiners. If we want a world that runs on Bitcoin, we have to build systems that honor its core principles of self-custody, open participation, and global fault tolerance.' As part of the mainnet launch, Botanix is also introducing 'Bitcoin 2100', a retro-futuristic immersive experience that invites users. Players can collect free bitcoin, denominated in sats, by playing in a stylized world set in the year 2100, where Bitcoin has become the rails of a new financial system. Each house within the experience represents a different live application on the Botanix network, offering a creative and engaging way for users to discover what's possible when Bitcoin becomes programmable. Both mainnet and Bitcoin 2100 are live beginning today. "Botanix adopting Chainlink is a significant step towards redefining what's possible for Bitcoin,' said Johann Eid, Chief Business Officer at Chainlink Labs. 'Botanix developers are now equipped to build advanced applications and unlock new utility for Bitcoin. This is a pivotal moment for the evolution of Bitcoin finance and the broader Bitcoin economy." Botanix testnet has completed over 26M transactions since its launch in December 2024. Founded in 2023, Botanix Labs is the protocol research and development team that initiated and coined the Spiderchain protocol and developed Botanix, an EVM-equivalent Bitcoin L2. With Botanix fully decentralized and independently operated, Botanix Labs contributes through research, developer tooling, and ecosystem growth. Contact Margaret Botanix
