Merlin Chain introduces staking possibilities and DeFi entry for Bitcoin
Merlin Chain has introduced decentralized finance (DeFi) opportunities for Bitcoin holders through a range of innovative integrations and its proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism.
In the last 45 days, Merlin Chain’s Bitcoin Layer-2 blockchain has facilitated the bridging of over $13 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC). The platform is now focused on expanding further to provide more benefits for BTC holders, aiming to revolutionize staking rewards and yield-generation for Bitcoin.
The main goal is to increase DeFi accessibility for BTC holders, offering profitable opportunities beyond simply holding onto the cryptocurrency. Merlin Chain seeks to transform the DeFi landscape of Bitcoin.
Despite Bitcoin being one of the top-performing assets globally in recent years, BTC holders have missed out on various earning avenues, according to Merlin Chain founder, Jeff.
“We are excited to finally offer BTC investors and hodlers tangible incentives to not only hold, but also earn and engage in the dynamic DeFi ecosystem!” noted Jeff.
The platform is introducing yield-generating opportunities such as staking, liquidity mining, and yield farming, which are currently dominated by Ethereum. Merlin Chain aims to unlock these and other use cases that reflect Ethereum’s established DeFi ecosystem.
One significant aspect is that Bitcoin’s strong security and scarcity contribute to the BTC DeFi ecosystem, tapping into a user base that is highly enthusiastic about crypto.
Users can earn yields on their BTC by bridging through Merlin Bridge. By locking their coins on the layer-1, they receive gas BTC that can be staked to generate a wrapped Bitcoin asset, M-BTC. Similar to stETH, holders of M-BTC can earn staking rewards.
Additional opportunities with M-BTC include providing liquidity for yields, lending, borrowing, and derivatives. Users can stake M-BTC on Solv Protocol or bridge SolvBTC on Linea, among other DeFi integrations.
Merlin Chain’s growth as a leading Bitcoin L2 for yield is evident with over $13 billion in assets bridged to and from the network. Moreover, the platform has distributed over $700 million in BTC rewards to Layer-2 networks that offer complementary rewards.
With a total value locked (TVL) of over $1.2 billion, Merlin Chain has partnered with prominent digital asset custodians and institutions to enhance its operations. These partners include Fireblocks, Cobo, Ceffu, and Antalpha, a subsidiary of Bitmain.
