Merlin Chain brings staking opportunities and DeFi access to Bitcoin

Merlin Chain is bringing the much-anticipated decentralized finance (DeFi) opportunities to Bitcoin holders, thanks to a suite of innovative integrations and its proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism.

Bitcoin Layer-2 blockchain Merlin Chain has seen more than $13 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) bridged in the last 45 days. Now its eyeing further growth as it bring more benefits for BTC holders. In this case, the platform wants to be the game-changer for staking rewards and yield-generation on Bitcoin.

It’s goal is enable greater access to DeFi for BTC holders, opening up lucrative opportunities beyond hodling.

Merlin Chain aims to revolutionize Bitcoin’s DeFi landscape

Despite being one of the best-performing assets in the world over the past decade or so, Bitcoin holders have still missed on numerous earning avenues, Merlin Chain founder Jeff said.

“We are therefore delighted to finally grant BTC investors and hodlers concrete incentives to not just HODL, but earn and participate in the exciting DeFi ecosystem!” he noted.

Among these opportunities, which Ethereum currently dominates, are yield-generating prospects such as staking, liquidity mining and yield farming. Merlin Chain is unlocking these and other use cases that mirror “Ethereum’s mature DeFi ecosystem,” Jeff added.

The most notable aspect however, is that Bitcoin’s robust security and scarcity power the BTC DeFi ecosystem. It’s a scenario that also seeks to tap into an ecosystem with one of the most ardent user base in crypto.

Stake BTC to earn rewards

Users can earn yield on their BTC by bridging via Merlin Bridge.

When a holder locks their coins on the layer-1, they receive gas BTC that they can stake to generate a wrapped Bitcoin asset M-BTC. Like stETH, holders of M-BTC earn staking rewards.

Other opportunities that come with M-BTC include liquidity provision for yields, lending, borrowing, and derivatives. Users can stake M-BTC on Solv Protocol or bridge SolvBTC on Linea among other DeFi integrations.

Over $700 million in rewards distributed

Merlin Chain’s growth as a top Bitcoin L2 for yield is clear given the $13 billion worth of assets bridged to and from the network.

More than that, the network has seen over $700 million in BTC distributed from the platform to Layer-2 networks that offer complementary rewards.

Merlin Chain, which currently has over $1.2 billion in total value locked (TVL) has partnered with some of the leading digital asset custodians and institutions to enhance its activities. These include Fireblocks, Cobo, Ceffu, and Antalpha, a subsidiary of Bitmain.