Bitcoin’s Evolution: How BitVM is Transforming DeFi and User Trust

outpacing Bitcoin in July, but the bull thesis remains the same for Maxis like Michael Saylor.

Satoshi envisioned Bitcoin as a decentralized hedge against inflation, and some believers think it could one day even back the US dollar, potentially ushering in an era of deflation.

Now traders often call Bitcoin volatile, but lately it's been anything but.

After hovering in a tight range around.

100,000 in May and June.

Bitcoin has spent the last week mostly flat trading just below its new record high.

Well joining me to weigh in is Alexi Zammain, who is the co-founder of Bob or Build on Bitcoin.

So good morning, Alexi.

Thank you so much for joining me.

So while also ripping, Bitcoin maxis are locked in.

So tell us about the use cases that keep them faithful and also orange pills.

Hey, thanks for having me.

I think one of the biggest developments in Bitcoin in the last two years has been something called BitVM.

Without diving into the technical details, um, what it solves is the biggest challenge of using Bitcoin in DFI or for anything else in payments.

It's the question of secure custody.

Whenever you want to use your Bitcoin, you have to deposit it somewhere and you give up custody, whether it's on Binance, on Kracken, on Cash App, or on Ethereum or Bitcoins such as in layer twos.

And with this new technological development, we finally have a way to remove the need for third-party trust which will hopefully usher in millions of users finally feeling safe and OK to use your Bitcoin, put their Bitcoin to work in the centralized finance application, most prominently using it as collateral to borrow stablecoins or mint so-called Bitcoin back stablecoins to then use this in DI to for payments, um, or essentially just to earn yield.

And when we look at the crypto majors, ET is up about 12% year to date, and institutions are taking notice.

Companies are starting to launch Ethereum treasuries to gain exposure to its technology as well as growth.

So why do you still believe the future of Dei is Bitcoin Native?

Bitcoin is by far the biggest assets.

It's bigger than all the other crypto assets combined.

It has the largest, most diverse and globally distributed user base.

Yes, it is true.

Eth has dominated Defi and innovation over the last couple of years, but one thing that Eth has not managed to do is penetrate as many sectors and as many users as Bitcoin has.

And with the rise of Bitcoin again now to become not just a digital asset, right, that is stale and you can buy it and hold it, but you cannot do much else.

And now Bitcoin is transitioning to this asset where you can do something with it as a retail user without trusting anyone else.

So the same thing you can do with Ethereum and other digital assets right now, you will finally also be able to do with Bitcoin and it starts with staking and then it goes into trustless lending, trustless swaps.

And I think this is a major, major development because a lot of digital assets and currencies and blockchains like Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, they all emerged because they could do things Bitcoin could not.

But now we are finally at a stage where Bitcoin can do all these things without modifying Bitcoin itself.

Without requiring additional trust.

And now that we have this technology emerging and actually going to mainnet later this year with multiple teams, including Bob releasing this to the public, I think we might see a major shifts and change of confidence in the requirement and the need for thousands of different blockchains.

When you could do all these things with Bitcoin, which remains the biggest asset.

When we report about Bitcoin outside of perhaps the crypto bubble, um, when we report about cryptocurrencies, we always talk about Bitcoin.

I think to the majority of the population, crypto means Bitcoin.

People might know Ethereum, but anything beyond that already gets very difficult.

Bitcoin has a brand, right, that exceeds that of arguably even Apple or gets very close.

And I think this is a unique opportunity um for anyone building in this space to capitalize on this, and we already see that.

Every major DFI application, including AA, Uniswap, and also every major chain like Solana, Bean Beach and Aptou, they're all developing Bitcoin strategies trying to capture more Bitcoin users in anticipation of millions of Bitcoin holders starting to move into the crypto space away from centralized exchanges into DI over the next 12 to 24 months.

And Alexi, finally, we have about 60 seconds here.

So Bob launch VBM which you mentioned.

So very quickly tell us about this launch and quickly the use cases this opens Bitcoin up to in comparison to E.

So the launch is on testnet, and the special thing about this is that we have been working with institutional operators.

So instead of just releasing some technology, running it ourselves, we've onboarded some of the biggest institutional load operators like Amber, Corus One, Rockaway, the MBTC, and other members of the BitIM Act Alliance, which comprises 25 plus members that are all working to make sure this new technology is not just released, but immediately adopted by institutions.

The use cases again are essentially universal.

You can do anything with Bitcoin that you can do with ES.

This means trading, staking, lending, or without trusting a third party for the first time in the history of Bitcoin.

Um, this is now live on TestNet, and we expect a mainnet release later in Q4 this year.

OK, Alexi, well, thank you so much for joining me this morning and as always, thank you so much for sharing your insights as well as perspective.