Taking stock of the Bitcoin ecological layout of major investment institutions

As we all know, in the 2023 Bitcoin ecological wave, winners such as OKX and Unisat have taken the lead by virtue of their early bets on the Bitcoin ecosystem. Although the current market has been dominated in the short term Other narratives such as ETH and halving have diverted some of the heat and attention, but enough funds and attention have poured into the track, and there will be massive opportunities for precipitation, construction, and dividend sharing in 2024.

In this context, after the beginning of 2024, the competition in the Bitcoin ecosystem is destined to become a fierce competition among large institutions such as Binance and OKX. A long-term narrative, especially the spillover effect among large institutions - projects invested in 2023 will naturally become seed players among them.

Web3 Chinese is aimed at Web3 leading institutions, covering leading exchanges (Binance, OKX, KuCoin) and leading investments A simple inventory of the Bitcoin ecological projects invested by institutions (DWF Labs, ABCDE, Polychain Capital, Waterdrop Capital, LK Ventures) in 2023 has been compiled in the previous "Bitcoin Ecological Investment Inventory of Top Institutions (1) Exchanges" This article will focus on the layout projects of investment institutions.

It needs to be emphasized that the participation of leading institutions does not mean that the project has a high probability of success. The Bitcoin ecosystem is still in its early stages and the overall ecosystem is facing challenges. Many challenges and uncertainties, such as technology maturity, business model sustainability, etc., DYOR!

ABCDE Capital

ABCDE Lianchuang Dujun said not long ago, "We are ready to deeply participate in the construction of the Bitcoin ecosystem, and the preferred track is Layer 2. On the day the project goes online, 50 million U or equivalent Bitcoin addresses will be announced exclusively for the development of this project. ”

Bitcoin Ecological Stablecoin Protocol bitSmiley

The Bitcoin ecological stablecoin protocol bitSmiley (https://twitter.com/bitsmiley_labs) allows users to over-collateralize the native BTC on the BTC network to mint the stablecoin bitUSD. It also includes lending and derivatives protocols, aiming to provide a A new financial ecosystem:

Decentralized stablecoin protocol: Through the Bitcoin network, BitSmiley launches an over-collateralized stablecoin protocol that issues UNO is a stablecoin softly pegged to the US dollar. Users can mint UNO by locking Bitcoin as collateral in the BitSmiley Vault, a smart contract on the Bitcoin blockchain;

Trust-free Lending protocol: BitSmiley’s built-in native lending platform allows users to participate in decentralized lending activities. Borrowers can receive the tokens they want to borrow by mortgaging BTC. After the loaned assets and interest are returned, the mortgaged BTC will be returned;

Derivatives Protocol: BitSmiley plans to expand to lending-based derivatives to improve capital efficiency and meet the demand for more complex financial instruments in the DeFi space;

In addition bitSmiley It has also been selected as a high-quality project in the BTC Hackathon jointly organized by ABCDE and OKX Ventures in November 2023. A beta version will be launched this quarter.

Bitcoin ecological project Bitmap Tech (formerly Recursiverse)

Bitcoin ecological project Bitmap Tech (formerly Recursiverse, https://bitmap.tech/) is an innovation aimed at building an intelligent, decentralized and composable digital world through the Ordinals network and Bitcoin L1 project.

It has four businesses, namely the Bitmap.Game metaverse platform, the BRC-420 asset protocol and the trading market Recursiverse recursive application matrix, as well as the upcoming BTC Layer2 project:

Bitmap.Game: The first metaverse product based on Bitmap assets. Any user can enter this world and chat/trade with other players/ The game is also the Metaverse product with the largest user base on the Bitcoin network;

BRC-420 protocol: a decentralized system operating on the Ordinals network An economic framework that allows creators to earn income directly without accepting or hosting transactions through the platform;

Recursive indexing and Inception inscriptions: showing the relationship between inscriptions and the number of citations , emphasizing the value that interconnected inscriptions can bring to a network; Inception introduces a multi-layered recursive inscription approach, where top-level inscriptions can contain a large amount of content and logic in a very small digital footprint;

Bitcoin L2 Network: Plans to bridge the BRC 420 protocol and Bitmap with second-layer solutions such as ZKP, Rollups and Lightning Network, expected to further build its vision of a decentralized metaverse, Make it an important player in the continued evolution of the digital world;

Bitcoin L2 Project B² Network

Bitcoin L2 project B² Network (https://www.bsquared.network/) is a Layer2 solution located on Bitcoin. Combined with ZKP’s BTC Rollup, the aggregated Storage and ZKP are written into BTC inscription to achieve BTC L2 with higher legitimacy and usability.

The purpose of the network is to transform Bitcoin into a multi-functional platform and lay the foundation for applications such as DeFi, NFT and other decentralized systems. It is currently on Alpha Testnet.

Officials also disclosed in the current Odyssey activities that "points are a permanent symbol of participation and contribution, paving the way for future rewards."  

Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon

Bitcoin pledge agreement Babylon (https://babylonchain.io/), the core vision is to use more than 800 billion US dollars of Bitcoin as the cornerstone of security, and introduce the PoS chain through the form of original chain pledge, thereby providing BTC-based native security.

What Babylon specifically needs to do is to play the role of middleware in a three-tier architecture: through the design of modular plug-ins, one end is connected to the Bitcoin PoW network And Bitcoin assets, the other end can be nested on different PoS consensus algorithms to help the PoS chain obtain the consensus security brought by Bitcoin pledge, thereby realizing the vision of "sharing the security of Bitcoin" among various PoS networks.

That is, Bitcoin is still pledged on its original chain, and users do not need to perform encapsulation and bridging. Babylon only acts as a control center to ensure that Bitcoin and PoS Interaction between chains becomes possible, and PoS chains and DApps can freely choose whether to access the economic security mechanism supported by Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Ecological Infrastructure Particle Network

Particle Network  ; is the infrastructure that promotes the large-scale application of Web3. Its products include Modular Smart WaaS and full-chain account abstraction protocols. It recently released BTC Connect, the first account abstraction protocol in the BTC ecosystem.

In December 2023, Particle Network released the BTC ecosystem’s first account abstraction protocol, BTC Connect, including Smart Account, Paymaster, Bundler, and the BTC ecosystem’s exclusive wallet Modal and the full Omnichain Inscription Protocol.

The first batch of ecological partners include Unisat Wallet, Bitmap Explorer, Brc420, MAP Protocol, BEVM, B^2 Network, ZkFair, BitSmiley, UXUY and BitLayer, etc. 10 A BTC ecological enterprise.

Bitcoin cross-chain message protocol Polyhedra

Polyhedra Network

(https://polyhedra.network/) launched the Bitcoin cross-chain messaging protocol based on zkBridge to improve the interoperability of the Bitcoin network. zkBridge enables light client smart contracts deployed on any blockchain network to directly verify Bitcoin’s PoW consensus and the Merkle proof of each transaction. zkBridge allows the transfer of all current and historical data on the Bitcoin network to any layer 1 and layer 2 blockchain network (such as Ethereum, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, etc.) and any on-chain application, And compatible with the latest protocols on the Bitcoin network (such as Ordinals, BRC-20 and Atomics, etc.).

In addition, zkBridge allows other blockchain networks by introducing a decentralized encryption economic model based on the pledge/re-pledge mechanism and multi-party secure computation (MPC) technology. Securely write data to the Bitcoin network after verification. The system ensures security through staking and forfeiture mechanisms, and solves the cross-chain message verification problem caused by Bitcoin not supporting native smart contracts.

Bitcoin DeFi Ecological Protocol DLC.Link

DLC .Link (https://www.dlc.link/) implements the Discreet Log Contract (DLC), which locks Bitcoin in on-chain custody and can be controlled by Ethereum and other smart contract chains, enabling lending, trading, and derivatives Wait until possible.

It can be split into an oracle layer (such as Chainlink or Pyth), a smart contract running on the blockchain (such as Defi running on Ethereum) Contract); Attestor's component can obtain data from smart contracts and convert it into instructions for settling DLC.

Currently, DLC.Link has obtained Grants from ChainLink and Stacks, and is actively discussing how to co-chain native BTC with multiple Cefi institutions and multiple smart contracts. Bring it into its business/ecosystem.

DWF Labs

Bitcoin Network Gaming and Entertainment Ecosystem Bitcoin Cats

Bitcoin Cats

（https: //www.bitcoincats.world/) is the GameFi platform for the Bitcoin ecosystem, bringing Bitcoin assets including: But it is not limited to new gameplay methods such as Play2Earn, staking, farming, and SocialFi.

1Cat is the native token of the Bitcoin Cats game ecosystem, with a total supply of 10 billion, which can be used to purchase and upgrade in-game assets, including avatars, pets, Equipment, farmland, etc. It can also assume the function of tickets, allowing players to access special features of the game.

In addition, 1Cat, while serving as a utility token for the gaming ecosystem, is also a meme coin with a cat as its logo.

In January this year, Bitcoin Cats and DWF Labs established a strategic partnership. The two parties will build a gaming and entertainment ecosystem across Bitcoin and EVM networks.

BRC20 Launchpad LeverPro

LeverPro is a leveraged trading platform The BRC20 Launchpad launched by LeverFi (https://www.gov.leverfi.io/stake) will focus mainly on potential BRC20 DeFi projects. Users who pledge LEVER tokens to participate in LVR governance will receive priority from LeverPro.

DWF Labs will establish an investment and market maker support partnership with LeverPro at the end of December 2023, and will invest in the LeverPro Launchpad as one of its investment channels. Projects selected for the LeverPro Launchpad are eligible to receive expedited investment consideration from DWF Labs, DWF Labs said.

Bitcoin Open Source Donation Protocol TurtSat 

Turtsat（ https://turtsat.io/) is a community-driven open platform that aims to be the Gitcoin of Ordinal, providing a space to build, donate and impact Bitcoin Ordinal & BRC-20 through Turtsat.

DWF Labs has partnered with TurtSat in December 2023 to promote and assist Ordinals’ high-quality projects and teams.

Waterdrip Capital

Waterdrip Capital Founder Jademont said that Waterdrip Capital has currently invested in 7 or 8 Bitcoin Layer 2 network projects. According to the information it currently has, at least 10 Bitcoin Layer 2 networks will come online next year.

BEVM: Completely decentralized Bitcoin L2 solution

BEVM (https://www.bevm.io/) is a BTC Layer2 that uses BTC as Gas and is compatible with EVM. Its core goal is to expand the smart contract scenario of Bitcoin and help BTC break through the non-graph of the Bitcoin blockchain. It is fully integrated and does not support the constraints of smart contracts, allowing BTC to build decentralized applications with BTC as the native Gas on Layer 2 of BEVM.

When a user transfers BTC from the Bitcoin main network to BEVM, the user's BTC will enter the contract address hosted by 1,000 nodes, and then be transferred to BEVM at the same time. That is, the BTC Layer2 network generates new BTC at a ratio of 1:1.

When the user issues an instruction to transfer BTC from BEVM back to the main network, the BEVM network node will trigger the Mast contract, and the 1,000 nodes that manage assets will follow the established The rules are automatically signed and BTC is returned to the user's address. The entire process is completely decentralized and trustless.

This means that all transactions are transferred from the Bitcoin main chain to run on the Layer2 network. At the same time, since BEVM is fully compatible with EVM, it can also be easily Let BTC realize various decentralized applications and empower Bitcoin ecological sub-projects from L2:

Ethereum DApp developers can directly and seamlessly migrate Go to BEVM and quickly build Swap or even on-chain DeFi scenarios such as lending and liquidity staking on BEVM, bringing more possibilities to the Bitcoin ecosystem. It is also the most decentralized and convenient compared to the first two.

Bitcoin game project Ordz Games

Bitcoin The online game project Ordz Games (https://www.ordz.games/) is the first GameFi project based on Bitcoin Ordinals (NFT). The founder is a BAYC boss. Its style is similar to retro-style games, from simple to There are 20 difficult levels in total.

The first game is Tank Battle, a Gamefi project that engraves retro game codes onto satoshis and rewards users with BRC-20 tokens through seasons. The project team has also successively launched a series of mini-games such as "Sheep Makes a Sheep" and spaceships.

The top 100 in the rankings and active players can receive BRC20 token (OG) rewards. The first Ordinals offline event was held at the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival, UniSat Wallet Also a participating investor.

MAP Protocol: Bitcoin L2 network for point-to-point cross-chain interoperability

MAP Protocol  is a Bitcoin Layer 2 network for point-to-point cross-chain interoperability. It utilizes Bitcoin's security mechanism to enable assets and users of other public chains to seamlessly interact with the Bitcoin network, thereby enhancing the network security and realizes BRC20 cross-chain capabilities.

Compared to the Bitcoin main chain, MAP Protocol can provide lower gas transaction fees, which can even be as low as 35% of the cost of Unisat and OKX Ordinals platforms.

So using MAP Protocol’s Bitcoin L2 technology, users can trade inscribed BRC20 tokens on SATSAT with low Gas and zero congestion, and also Rolluper can be used to roll back to the Bitcoin main chain for trading on Unisat, OKX and other Bitcoin L1 trading platforms.

Full-chain interoperability infrastructure MAP Protocol announced the establishment of a US$10 million ecological fund with Waterdrip Capital. The fund will focus on the construction of Omnichain's full-chain interoperability ecosystem, supporting and developing development teams or projects that have innovative value, can contribute to the future of blockchain interoperability, and meet the investment standards of the three. The fund will soon open applications for projects.

LK Venture

April 2023 Linekong Interactive The Group (08267.HK) announced the reorganization of the crypto investment and research institution Consensus Lab, and officially established LK Venture in Hong Kong to enter the Web3 industry. LK Venture will set up primary market and secondary market funds respectively. Linekong Interactive Multiple institutions will be joined together as cornerstone investors to participate.

In November 2023, Linekong Interactive, a Hong Kong-listed company, will launch a US$15 million Bitcoin network ecological investment management fund BTC NEXT. According to Wang Feng, co-sponsor of Element/founder of Linekong Interactive, BTC NEXT is a seed fund that will be fully used to participate in emerging crypto assets in the Bitcoin network ecosystem, including but not limited to covering multiple types of asset issuance protocols that have emerged, Trading markets, expansion, virtual machines, NFT, RWA and GameFi games and other fields.

MAP Protocol: Bitcoin L2 network for point-to-point cross-chain interoperability

MAP Protocol  is a Bitcoin Layer 2 network for point-to-point cross-chain interoperability. It utilizes Bitcoin's security mechanism to enable assets and users of other public chains to seamlessly interact with the Bitcoin network, thereby enhancing the network security and realizes BRC20 cross-chain capabilities.

Compared to the Bitcoin main chain, MAP Protocol can provide lower gas transaction fees, which can even be as low as 35% of the cost of Unisat and OKX Ordinals platforms.

So using MAP Protocol’s Bitcoin L2 technology, users can trade inscribed BRC20 tokens on SATSAT with low Gas and zero congestion, and also Rolluper can be used to roll back to the Bitcoin main chain for trading on Unisat, OKX and other Bitcoin L1 trading platforms.

Bitcoin Financial Layer Solution ALEX Labs

Bitcoin Financial Layer Solution ALEX Labs ALEX Labs (https://linktr.ee/alexlab), a cryptocurrency financial layer solution, received strategic investment from LK Venture, a subsidiary of Linekong Interactive, through the Bitcoin Network Ecological Investment Management Fund BTC NEXT. The investment amount was not disclosed.

Founded in 2021, ALEX Labs is a DeFi protocol built for Bitcoin and BRC-20 tokens, focusing on the next generation of Bitcoin users, innovators and wider ecosystem.

Polychain Capital

Bitcoin L2 Network Bitfinity

Bitfinity (https://linktr.ee/bitfinitnetwork) Founded in 2021, it is a Bitcoin Layer based on Internet Computer and EVM compatible 2 network. Previously, the InfinitySwap business was hoping to make BTC mortgage mainstream through AMM, and was called Uniswap of the Internet Computer (ICP) blockchain network.

Recently, Bitfinity completed $7 million in token financing at a valuation of $130 million, with participation from Polychain Capital, ParaFi Capital, Dokia Capital and Draft Ventures. In 2021, Bitfinity also received US$1.5 million in seed round financing from Polychain, a16z Crypto, Internet Computer, Dfinity, and Draft Ventures.

Bitfinity is currently in the test network stage, and the launch time of the main network has not yet been announced.

Bitcoin Pledge Agreement Babylon

Bitcoin Pledge Agreement Babylon (https://babylonchain.io/), the core vision is to use Bitcoin with a volume of more than 800 billion US dollars as the cornerstone of security, and introduce it into the PoS chain in the form of original chain pledge, thereby providing native security based on BTC.

What Babylon specifically needs to do is to play the role of middleware in a three-tier architecture: through the design of modular plug-ins, one end is connected to the Bitcoin PoW network And Bitcoin assets, the other end can be nested on different PoS consensus algorithms to help the PoS chain obtain the consensus security brought by Bitcoin pledge, thereby realizing the vision of "sharing the security of Bitcoin" among various PoS networks.

That is, Bitcoin is still pledged on its original chain, and users do not need to perform encapsulation and bridging. Babylon only acts as a control center to ensure that Bitcoin and PoS Interaction between chains becomes possible, and PoS chains and DApps can freely choose whether to access the economic security mechanism supported by Bitcoin.