On December 20, the hybrid Layer 2 project BOB (Build on Bitcoin) announced a partnership with the Bitcoin ecosystem protocol Fiamma. The two parties successfully tested the first trust-minimized Bitcoin cross-chain bridge prototype driven by BitVM, greatly improving the security and decentralization of Bitcoin cross-chain, and accelerating the implementation and scenario application of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
BOB is a hybrid L2 platform that combines the security of Bitcoin with the flexibility of Ethereum smart contracts. It supports Bitcoin ecosystems such as Ordinals, Lightning, and Nostr, and aims to improve the utility of Bitcoin and expand its functionality. BOB's vision is to ensure security by BTC L1, the most secure L1, and use this security to create a trustless bridge to connect BTC, ETH, and other L1 blockchains. Therefore, Hybrid L2 does not rely on third-party bridging tools for interoperability, while solving the decentralized BTC multi-chain liquidity problem.
Fiamma is the leading BitVM developer and ZKP (zero-knowledge proof) infrastructure company in the Bitcoin ecosystem, aiming to transform Bitcoin into a dynamic asset in a trust-minimized manner and build a decentralized Internet and financial system on Bitcoin.
The success of the collaborative test means that BOB will become one of the first L2 solutions that inherits the security of Bitcoin and develops a prototype cross-chain bridge based on BitVM. BitVM is a revolutionary system that enables developers to run complex contracts on the Bitcoin network without any forks or protocol changes, unlocking new practical scenarios and scalability levels for Bitcoin.
As we all know, existing Bitcoin cross-chain bridges usually rely on centralized entities, such as Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) and Coinbase Wrapped Bitcoin (cbBTC)) or semi-trusted networks (such as tBTC). The security of these cross-chain bridges depends on the honesty and cost of these centralized entities, and there is a certain centralized single point risk. In contrast, the BitVM cross-chain bridge introduces a more superior security mechanism: as long as BTC L1 is secure and there is at least one honest node in the network that can perform on-chain disputes, users can safely deposit and withdraw BTC.
BOB co-founder Alexei Zamyatin is the co-author of the BitVM 2 technical white paper and a core research contributor to the BitVM protocol. He provides the BOB team with unparalleled insight into BitVM’s potential for security and scalability in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Alexei believes: “Bitcoin security and trust-minimized Bitcoin cross-chain bridges are the biggest essential difference between Bitcoin L2 and other L1 and EVM compatible chains. This security from Bitcoin’s most powerful and decentralized network, combined with a cross-chain bridge that can safely store and access Bitcoin without trusting any third party, will form a perfect combination. However, until now, this situation has not appeared, because almost all Bitcoin cross-chain bridges on the market are trusted multi-signature. Until the emergence of BitVM, we finally have a blueprint and prototype, and researchers can now achieve this goal with BitVM 2.”
"Bitcoin security and trust-minimized Bitcoin cross-chain bridges are the two most important pillars of Bitcoin L2s. They were previously regarded as an unattainable holy grail by industry developers, but now we can achieve them through Bitcoin Staking and BitVM 2." Alexei concluded.
In order to accelerate the implementation and application of BitVM 2, BOB and Fiamma have successfully reached this cooperation. Fiamma is one of the first pioneers to use BitVM 2, including the first BitVM bridge and the first BitVM-supported Bitcoin verification layer. Together, they deployed key cross-chain bridge infrastructure and tried out early versions of the verifier software to verify BOB's consensus. After the release of this BitVM-driven trust-minimized Bitcoin cross-chain bridge prototype, BOB plans to launch the BitVM bridge on the BOB testnet in early 2025, followed by related audit work and ecological partner integration, and then promote the official launch of the mainnet.
Cyimon Chen, co-founder of Fiamma and core contributor of BitVM, said: “We are excited to announce our collaboration with the BOB team and we are very grateful to Alexei and his team for the valuable insights they provided. We look forward to integrating BitVM Bridge into BOB’s hybrid L2 network, making it the first BTC L2 with a trust-minimized cross-chain bridge. We hope that BOB’s BitVM bridge prototype is the most impressive demonstration of our strategic partnership with our users.”
After the BitVM cross-chain bridge prototype is officially released, it will allow BOB users to safely deposit and withdraw BTC without relying on third-party institutions. Users can safely lock their BTC on the Bitcoin mainnet and mint fully fungible ERC 20 bridged BTC on the BOB chain. Users can redeem their Bitcoin with bridged BTC at any time. Ideally, the bridging process will take less than an hour one way, which is much faster than the existing Ethereum L1 or L2 bridge Bitcoin.
In addition, BOB announced a few days ago that it plans to integrate the Bitcoin Security Network with the Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon to bring Bitcoin's finality into the hybrid L2 model. The two parties will leverage their respective advantages to integrate the Bitcoin Security Network and bring Bitcoin's finality into BOB's hybrid L2 network. Trust-minimized cross-chain bridges and Bitcoin Finality are important components of BOB's hybrid L2 model, which aims to combine the security and liquidity of Bitcoin with the innovation and versatility of Ethereum's DeFi, making BOB the "Home of BTC DeFi". The successful Bitcoin cross-chain bridge prototype test officially launched Phase 2 of the BOB roadmap, which will become an Ethereum L2 with Bitcoin Finality, leveraging the greatly enhanced security and trust-minimized BitVM BTC cross-chain bridge and the native ETH cross-chain bridge to extract BTC faster.
Since its inception, BOB has been committed to promoting the vigorous development of the Bitcoin ecosystem, with a total BTC DeFi lock value (TVL) of more than $200 million, including BTC LST assets supported by liquidity aggregation platforms such as Lombard, Solv, Bedrock and PumpBTC. In addition, BOB's one-click Bitcoin staking product BOB Stake will integrate with third-party staking service platforms such as Staking Rewards, Pell, Xverse Earn and Everstake, allowing millions of users to easily stake BTC assets in DeFi with just one Bitcoin transaction.
About BOB (Build on Bitcoin)
BOB (Build on Bitcoin) is a hybrid Layer-2 network that combines the best of Bitcoin and Ethereum, dedicated to establishing itself as the "Home of BTC DeFi". The unique Hybrid L2 model combines the strengths of both ecosystems - Bitcoin's security and dormant BTC capital, and Ethereum's DeFi innovation and versatility. By positioning BTC as the backbone of a new decentralized financial system, BOB can unlock new use cases and trillions of BTC liquidity. BOB perfectly inherits the security of the Bitcoin network using the BitVM protocol, and creates a trust-minimized bridge between BOB, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other L1 networks. As a result, Hybrid L2 does not need to rely on third-party cross-chain bridges for interoperability, easily concentrating liquidity around the Bitcoin network instead of being scattered across various chains.
BOB is supported by leading investment institutions such as Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Ledger Cathay Ventures and IOSG.
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About Fiamma
Fiamma aims to transform Bitcoin into a dynamic asset in a trust-minimizing way and build a decentralized Internet and financial system on Bitcoin. With the support of top investment institutions Lightspeed Faction and L2 Iterative Ventures (L2 IV), Fiamma is committed to leading Bitcoin ecosystem innovation through two infrastructure solutions, Fiamma Bridge and Fiamma Layer, which are the first Bitcoin ecosystem products to implement BitVM 2. In the future, Fiamma will continue to research innovative protocols to solve Bitcoin's programmability gap, enabling Bitcoin to scale and interact seamlessly with programmable blockchains in a trust-minimizing way.
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