Rooch Network, a blockchain project focused on building an application layer for the Bitcoin ecosystem, has joined the Cointelegraph Accelerator program. While Bitcoin has primarily been used for transactions and investments, its lack of native smart contract functionality has hindered its potential in decentralized finance (DeFi). However, the Taproot upgrade in 2021 opened the door to DeFi in the Bitcoin ecosystem by bringing native smart contract capability to the network. Rooch Network is creating a new way to build advanced, non-custodial DApps directly on the Bitcoin blockchain, which could make Bitcoin an exciting hub for decentralized applications and attract users who value both the security of Bitcoin and the flexibility of decentralized applications.