The Bitcoin Spot ETF, which has attracted more than 192,000 bitcoins since it was approved on January 11, is once again the talk of the crypto world.。The expected interest of institutional investors in Bitcoin has had a predictable impact on its price, and has also led to the rise of native Bitcoin-based applications.。

Bitcoin's second-tier (L2) ecosystem has long been a secondary role for Ethereum。In fact, while the L2 kingdom of Ethereum is growing, there is no ecosystem to match it on Bitcoin。This has all changed with the emergence of a series of auxiliary networks and decentralized applications (dApps), all of which are seeking to take advantage of Bitcoin's security and popularity while increasing its throughput。

With unprecedented interest in this leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin-based DeFi solutions are gaining momentum。

Bitcoin Fundamentals Improve, L2 Booms

The appeal of Bitcoin L2 is clear: it can handle more transactions, thereby strengthening the value proposition of the network (and currency)。

The popularity of the Ordinals and BRC-20 token standards has contributed to the increase in on-chain activity, but in fact, several projects share the good factors in the current ecosystem.。

Following the approval of the ETF, the total locked-in value (TVL) of Stacks, a smart contract support chain built on Bitcoin, broke its previous all-time high, reaching $63 million on the day of approval, before soaring to $70 million.。Stacks' mission is to bring the dApp that thrives on Ethereum and its L2 swarm to the proof-of-work chain。

Stacks is one of several "layers" built on top of Bitcoin, and like Lightning, Rootstock, and Liquid, Stacks uses Bitcoin as its underlying settlement layer while extending its functionality.。All of these players have recently recorded major victories, with Rootstock recently achieving its highest TVL in two years.。

Although Ordinals has caused controversy among some of Bitcoin's largest users, who deplore the network congestion caused by Ordinals, many in the community are pleased that the network's technical foundation and use cases have been strengthened ahead of the upcoming halving.。If the prospect of Bitcoin turning into the DeFi Wild West makes some OG developers nervous, others are relieved that Bitcoin has another bullish reason.。

Researcher Michael Zhao notes in a new Grayscale report: "Recent developments suggest that Bitcoin is evolving into something more important.。The development of L2 networks could be a step forward。"

StackingDAO is a Stacks-based liquid placement protocol that is an example of a current Bitcoin rather than Ethereum solution.。Within a month, the project became the second largest DeFi offering on Stacks via TVL, with more than 45 million STX tokens currently locked in smart contracts.。BitFlow, the decentralized exchange for Bitcoin players, also made a landmark achievement, announcing a $20 million TVL.。

These milestones and others highlight the surge in Bitcoin use cases and the feeling that the Bitcoin network is at the center of the next wave of DeFi.。