After its inception in middle 2009, Bitcoin DeFi has entered the financial system and proved to be an inflation hedge. Some countries, such as El Salvador, have incorporated it as their legal currency. In essence, Bitcoin quickly rose to $1 by March, 2024 in terms of its market capitalization. Said to be worth $4 trillion consecutively to become eighth on the list replacing silver as common Manuel pointed out.
Reviving the Use Cases of Bitcoin in Defi
However, a large share of CDs still sits idle in the users’ wallets while Bitcoin dominates the market. This is because Bitcoin’s usage has been limited and it cannot handle the amount of traffic required as well as it does not support smart contracts. These limitation have capped developer engagement, thus slowing down the development of decentralized finance (DeFi) in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
DeFi itself originates from the development of blockchain technology and computing power and has ancestral origins in the financial world, but Bitcoin as a component of and origin for DeFi has a more specific story of its own.
While Bitcoin enjoys tremendous liquidity, there has been little use of DeFi applications in this space and thus no opportunity to tap into the potential. Yet, the developers have been working very diligently to improve the efficiency and compatibility of Bitcoin for the DeFi world. One of the major upgrades was made in 2017 called Segregated Witness (SegWit) which improve transactions time and extended block capacity. pay-to-Taproot, or P2TR, and the Taproot Asset Representation Overlay, or Taro US) as a basis for the development of the Bitcoin DeFi.
In January 2023, an individual known under the pseudonym Casey Rodarmor came up with Ordinals launching on the Bitcoin network, essentially introducing the idea of inscriptions similar to NFTs. This flip allowed the ‘Building on Bitcoin’ motion to be revitalized, unfolding a Bitcoin NFT market that is estimated to top $4. 5 billion by 2025. After this Rodarmor introduced the Runes of protocol to create more on Bitcoin generally to create fungible tokens which saw lot of traffic and interest in Bitcoin assets.
A New Era for Bitcoin
In February 2024, DeFi protocols saw their total value locked (TVL) soar past $80 billion, and that’s without counting any Bitcoin reserves. Ethereum is the big player here, owning nearly 60% of the market. Imagine what could happen if Bitcoin’s massive market cap was tapped into even just a little bit—it could send TVL into the stratosphere.
Spartan Research paints a pretty enticing picture, forecasting a seven-fold growth opportunity for Bitcoin DeFi. As of December 2023, Bitcoin’s market cap was a whopping $850 billion, dwarfing Ethereum’s $270 billion. While Ethereum’s DeFi TVL was $76 billion, which is 28% of its market cap, Bitcoin DeFi lagged far behind at just $320 million. If these numbers hold steady, Bitcoin DeFi could be looking at a potential $238 billion market opportunity.
The Dawn of Bitcoin DeFi
Innovative protocols like Ordinals, Runes, and layer-2 networks such as Stacks are critical to Bitcoin DeFi’s rise. These tools let users dive into the untapped potential of Bitcoin reserves, all while benefiting from Bitcoin’s robust security and decentralization. Yet, some hardcore Bitcoin enthusiasts argue that the introduction of memecoins and NFTs has tarnished Bitcoin’s purity. Despite the controversy, embracing these fun, quirky elements of crypto might be what propels it to mainstream popularity and increased developer interest.
Meme tokens could pave the way for greater involvement in Bitcoin-based lending, borrowing, trading, yield farming, staking, GameFi, and SocialFi protocols. These applications have the potential to finally bring Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision of an alternative financial system to life.
The Future of Bitcoin DeFi
As we head into another DeFi summer, Bitcoin-based permissionless financial services are set to become accessible across the globe. The real promise of Bitcoin DeFi is just starting to unfold, opening up enormous opportunities for both users and developers. It’s an exciting time to watch this space and see how Bitcoin DeFi will revolutionize the financial landscape.
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