Bitcoin L2s and BTCFi

How Bitcoin's second-layer ecosystem grew up in 2025-2026 — BitVM2, Citrea, Stacks Nakamoto, sBTC, Babylon, Rootstock, Alpen, and the trust models behind every BTC peg.

1. 01

   The Case for Bitcoin L2s: From Sidechains to BitVM

   Why Bitcoin's L1 stays small on purpose, and how the L2 trust spectrum from WBTC to BitVM rollups finally made trust-minimised BTCFi real in 2024-2026.

   7 min read · intermediate

2. 02

   BitVM2, Citrea, and Alpen: The Validity-Proof Generation of Bitcoin L2s

   How BitVM2 unlocked optimistic verification on Bitcoin without a soft fork, and what Citrea, Alpen, and Bitlayer actually ship in 2026.

   8 min read · intermediate

3. 03

   Stacks Nakamoto and sBTC: BTC Programmability via Threshold Signers

   Part 3 of our Bitcoin L2 series: how Stacks Nakamoto and sBTC deliver BTC programmability today via a 15-signer threshold federation, not zero-trust cryptography.

   8 min read · intermediate

4. 04

   Babylon and Rootstock: BTC Restaking and the Original Sidechain

   Babylon keeps your BTC self-custodial and slashable. Rootstock locks it in a federation and gives you EVM. Two opposite philosophies for putting Bitcoin to work.

   7 min read · intermediate

5. 05

   Choosing and Using a Bitcoin L2 in 2026: A Self-Custody Operational Guide

   A practical 2026 decision guide for picking and using a Bitcoin L2 with self-custody discipline, peg-risk checks, and clear exit planning anchored to native BTC.

   7 min read · intermediate