The Bitlayer project is indeed worth a closer look. It has transformed the concept of BitVM from the White Paper into a practical solution, supporting high-performance Rollups with the underlying security architecture of Bitcoin, addressing the long-standing smart contracts bottleneck in the Bitcoin network. Its core innovation, YBTC.B, serves as a cross-chain liquidity standard, anchored 1:1 to native BTC while bridging the EVM ecosystem. This represents a rare design in the current Bitcoin Layer 2 space. From a technical perspective, the BitVM bridge they are building will achieve truly trustless cross-chain interactions, and combined with yield protocols like Plume, it indeed opens up the imaginative space for Bitcoin DeFi.

Data doesn’t lie—30 million BTR have been distributed in the first two phases. Although the reward scale has decreased in this third phase, the participation threshold is clearer. Especially the staking design of YBTC.B not only attracts traffic to the ecosystem but also tests the actual application scenarios of assets. It’s worth noting that all rewards will be released 90 days after the TGE; this mechanism controls selling pressure while allowing time for value cultivation. Currently, Bitlayer ranks high in the TVL growth of Bitcoin L2, and if the BitVM plan can be delivered on schedule, the captured value of BTR as the governance token of the ecosystem will be quite considerable. Participating in the activity now to get an early stake may lead to unexpected surprises after the mainnet goes live.