Why L2s and Meta-protocols Aren’t Enough

Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions try to address the issues of Bitcoin by building their own execution layers, which users can bridge their assets onto. This process allows for scalable programmability. However, it transfers trust away from the Bitcoin base layer — by far the most liquid, secure, and decentralized blockchain — to these L2s. This isn’t appealing to many Bitcoiners, who have already had the ability to access programmability by bridging into Ethereum for years yet have largely chosen not to do so. The total value locked of “wrapped” BTC assets in DeFi — Bitcoin that is bridged onto Ethereum — is about $10 billion as of writing, less than 1% of the total Bitcoin market cap.

A few emerging meta-protocols have also tried to add new capacities to Bitcoin by increasing off-chain compute capacity. However, they can only handle state changes, and aren’t able to do asset transfers, which require the ability to sign Bitcoin transactions programmability and in a decentralized, secure fashion. In short, they have the same performance limitations of the Bitcoin L1 without the utility of Bitcoin L2s — plus, most also require that users bridge their assets, exposing them to the same fractured liquidity and compromised security concerns of L2s.

To build the pillars of DeFi, Bitcoin needs a truly Turing-complete execution platform, capable of executing both state changes and asset transfers. It must be able to power the complex, interoperable smart contracts needed to support DeFi apps without fracturing liquidity or compromising security. And it must do so in a trust-minimized way that doesn’t force Bitcoiners to trust their assets with insufficiently decentralized protocols.