Sidechain · settles to Bitcoin
Bitlayer ticker BTR
Summary
Bitlayer mainnet (V1, live since April 2024) runs a fork of go-ethereum. Up to 21 validators take turns signing blocks about every 3 seconds, with system contracts for staking and validator management; Bitcoin Layers counts 21 validators currently taking part. Bitlayer's data is kept by its own nodes rather than posted to Bitcoin, and Bitcoin does not verify Bitlayer's state. BTC arrives through an official bridge whose reserves sit with MPC custody platforms. Bitlayer's V2 design would post state commitments to Bitcoin and let anyone challenge them in a BitVM challenge game with a seven-day window, but V2 is described as upcoming and was not found live. Bitlayer's July 2026 testnet notice said mainnet services continued normally. 235910202431
Design
- System
- SidechainBitlayer calls itself a Bitcoin layer 2 and a BitVM rollup, but the network running today is its V1 chain, Bitlayer PoS, which Bitlayer's own rollup page calls the existing sidechain architecture that V2 is meant to replace. It is filed as a sidechain: up to 21 permissioned validators produce EVM blocks, Bitcoin does not check Bitlayer's state, and BTC enters through an official bridge backed by MPC custody platforms. BTC, with 18 decimals on Bitlayer, is the gas coin; BTR is the governance token.
- Settles to
- BitcoinBTC enters from Bitcoin through Bitlayer's official bridge, whose reserves are published as Bitcoin addresses held with MPC custody platforms; BRC-20 and Runes tokens used the same bridge until Bitlayer ended their support in a notice dated 28 May 2026. Bitcoin does not validate Bitlayer blocks, store Bitlayer data or enforce withdrawals; Bitlayer's own finality comes from its validators. The planned V2 would settle state to Bitcoin, but it was not found live.
- Settlement family
- Bitcoin family
- Scarce resource
- Other
- State model
- Accounts
- Finality
- Probabilistic
- Who makes blocks
- Up to 21 validators, per Bitlayer's finality page. The independent Bitcoin Layers review says the set is permissioned and its operators are undisclosed. Bitlayer calls the design proof of stake, but no reviewed page shows how validators are admitted or what they stake, and Bitcoin Layers says they do not stake BTR.
- Fork choice
- Heaviest chain among the validator set: Bitlayer's docs say that when branches compete at a height, nodes pick the one with the largest total difficulty, so the latest few blocks can be reorganized. Only validators in the set can extend the chain, and Bitcoin's own chain plays no part in choosing Bitlayer's.
Qualifications
- System class · Contested. Bitlayer's introduction page calls it the first rollup purpose-built for Bitcoin; its V2 page says V2 will supersede the existing sidechain architecture; Bitcoin Layers calls mainnet V1 a federated sidechain. The technical sources agree Bitcoin does not verify the running chain, so this profile uses sidechain.
- Scarce resource · Contested. Bitlayer describes proof of stake with a staking system contract, and its whitepaper and tokenomics describe BTR staking by validators. Bitcoin Layers says the validator set is permissioned and does not stake BTR, and Bitlayer's February 2026 report still called BTR staking a launch in preparation.
- Finality · Partial. Bitlayer's docs call a block safe for most uses after 5 confirmations, very likely safe after 15 and absolutely safe after 21, which assumes the validator set behaves. There is no stage at which Bitcoin finality applies; the seven-day hard finality on Bitcoin belongs to the unreleased V2.
- Bitcoin data availability · Not applicable. Bitlayer does not post its transaction data to Bitcoin; Bitcoin Layers says data is held by Bitlayer full nodes, whose software is open source.
- Rollup upgrade · Unknown. Bitlayer's docs and whitepaper 2.0 describe a V2 rollup verified on Bitcoin through a BitVM contract with one active operator. No launch date or live deployment was found, and Bitlayer announced that its public testnet would shut down on 31 July 2026.
- Bitvm bridge · Not applicable. Bitlayer's BitVM Bridge mainnet page lists one route, Bitcoin to Ethereum, in beta, with YBTC minted on Ethereum; no BitVM route onto Bitlayer was found, although Bitlayer's native BTC page still names the BitVM Bridge beside the MPC bridge. Bitlayer stopped its deposits on 28 May 2026 and withdrawals on 3 June 2026 for an architecture overhaul, with no relaunch date.
- Emergency authority · Applies. Bitlayer's bridge governance page gives a 7-of-10 Security Council multisig emergency powers, including an emergency withdrawal path, and the discontinuation notice says the council would withdraw broker funds directly at shutdown.
Tradeoffs
- Emphasizes
- Scalability Contested
- Gives up
- Decentralized operation and trust-minimized custody: a permissioned set of up to 21 validators with undisclosed operators produces every block, users cannot force a withdrawal to Bitcoin, and the BTC behind the gas coin is held by MPC custody platforms that Bitlayer names (including Coinbase and Sinohope) rather than by rules Bitcoin enforces.Bitlayer's docs say it inherits Bitcoin's security; that describes the planned V2 rollup. The Bitcoin Layers review says the current network inherits no security from Bitcoin, so the security corner is not listed and the reading is marked contested. Scalability here means cheap, fast EVM execution kept off Bitcoin, not a measured rate.
- Full node at home
- Demanding 152531Bitlayer's node guide asks for at least 8 CPU cores, 16 GB RAM and an SSD above 5,000 IOPS (16 cores and 32 GB recommended), plus a reachable IP with port 31031 open; chain size is not published. A full node checks validator signatures and EVM execution itself, but cannot check the BTC reserves behind the gas coin. In March 2026 Bitlayer announced that, after maintenance, its public RPC would answer only latest-state queries, so apps needing history should run their own archive node or use another provider.
- Throughput claims
- No classified figure recorded
Scaling layers
No scaling layer recorded in this profile.
Capabilities
| Capability | How it is provided | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|
| Account abstraction | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Atomic swaps | Unknown | Not yet assessed under the current definitions; no live trust-minimized swap between Bitcoin and Bitlayer was verified. Bitlayer's bridge FAQ said in July 2025 that atomic swaps were under development while its swap bridge used MPC swaps. EVM contracts are building blocks for hash-locked swaps, but no such swap was reviewed. 12 |
| Authenticated data publication | Unknown | Not yet assessed under this row's current definition. |
| Light clients | Unknown | Not yet assessed under the current definitions; no light client for the running Bitlayer chain was found. The light client in Bitlayer's V2 whitepaper is a contract that tracks Bitcoin block headers for bridging and forced transactions; that verifies Bitcoin, not Bitlayer. 11 |
| Native staking or delegation | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| On-chain governance | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Parallel execution | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Payment or state channels | Unknown | No payment or state channel layer anchored to Bitlayer was found. |
| Programmable spending | Native (protocol or core-team software) Earlier definition | Contracts run on an EVM at the Cancun rule set, without the PREVRANDAO, BLOBHASH and BLOBBASEFEE opcodes or blob transactions, and with Solidity up to 0.8.28. 24 |
| Protocol-verified messaging | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Reversible transfers or recovery | Unknown | Not yet assessed under the current definitions; the earlier review found no protocol feature for cancelling, delaying or recovering payments. Bitlayer lists a multisig contract wallet and account-abstraction wallets, but no cited source shows a delay or recovery module live in any of them. 18 |
| Rollups | Unknown | No rollup anchored to Bitlayer was found. Bitlayer's own planned V2 rollup would settle to Bitcoin and replace the current chain; it is not a layer on top of Bitlayer. 9 |
| Shielded transfers | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Signed partial offers | Unknown | Not yet assessed under this row's current definition. |
Reading these values
- How this feature is provided
- Built into the protocol, core-team software or independent software says where a feature lives and who can change it. These are implementation layers, not quality: core-team software is not closer to the protocol than independent software.
- Structured assessment pending
- The shared review has not assessed this feature for any chain yet (Account abstraction, Native staking or delegation, On-chain governance, Parallel execution, Protocol-verified messaging and Shielded transfers). That does not mean it is absent, and a chain’s profile may already describe it.
- Unknown
- The review has not established this for this chain under the current definition; the note beside it says why. Unknown is not absent and not a low score. A feature reads “Not present” only when a source shows it is absent.
- Earlier definition
- Payment or state channels, Programmable spending and Rollups keep the earlier definition until the next fact-check. There, “Native” does not separate the protocol from core-team software, “Ecosystem software” does not say who publishes it, and “Partial” does not say which layer.
- Reading across rows
- The list of capabilities is incomplete. Do not read these rows as a chain leading or lagging overall.
Ecosystem & custody
| Product type | Status | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|
| Automated market makers | ThinMacaron, bitCow | Bitlayer's docs point users to Macaron's swap to turn BTC into wBTC. DefiLlama lists Macaron, which calls itself the first native exchange on Bitlayer, and bitCow, a stable and concentrated-liquidity AMM, as Bitlayer exchanges with small tracked deposits. Their operators, audits and depth were not reviewed. 193233 |
| Issuer-native stablecoins | None found | Neither Circle's USDC address list nor Tether's supported-protocols page lists Bitlayer. Bitlayer's docs list USDT and USDC as peg tokens sourced from Ethereum and carried over its bridges. Bitlayer replaced its USDC contract in September 2024 citing Circle's requirements, but Circle does not list it as native issuance. 6293536 |
| Algorithmic stablecoins | Unknown | No algorithmic stablecoin with material usage was verified. DefiLlama lists bitSmiley, a collateral-debt protocol that calls itself a BTC-native stablecoin protocol, on Bitlayer; its design was not reviewed. 34 |
| Bridges | First-partyBitlayer official bridge (Bitcoin and EVM chains), Chainlink CCIP, LayerZero | The official bridge brings BTC from Bitcoin and assets from EVM chains. Bitlayer calls Chainlink CCIP its canonical route to Ethereum for BTR, USDC, USDT, ETH and wstETH, and its docs list LayerZero. A Bitlayer notice dated 28 May 2026 ended BRC-20 and Runes support on the official bridge. Bitlayer's separate BitVM Bridge minted YBTC on Ethereum, not Bitlayer, and closed in June 2026. Third-party bridges were not reviewed. Risk: Bitcoin cannot enforce the BTC peg. Bitlayer says the BTC behind its gas coin is secured by MPC custody platforms including Coinbase and Sinohope; Bitcoin Layers says users cannot withdraw unilaterally and must trust validators and multisig signers to process withdrawals. Bridged dollar tokens also depend on the EVM-side bridge and CCIP. The BitVM Bridge, advertised as needing one honest party, also had a 7-of-10 Security Council with emergency withdrawal power, which Bitlayer said would settle broker funds at shutdown. 5781722232830 |
| Block explorers | First-partyBTRScan | Bitlayer's docs name BTRScan as the mainnet explorer and document its query API; the site builds its pages with scripts, so this review relied on the docs rather than reading live pages. The docs also list an OKX explorer page, which returned 404. Explorer indexes are not canonical consensus. 1621 |
| Hardware wallets | ThinTrezor Safe 3, 5 and 7 through MetaMask or Rabby, Ledger (Bitlayer network in Ledger's wallet code, switched off by default) | See custody rows: Trezor's BTR page lists the Bitlayer network with MetaMask and Rabby, and Trezor Suite does not list Bitlayer among its native networks; Ledger's wallet code includes Bitlayer behind a feature switch that is off by default, with no Ledger page confirming it is on; Bitlayer's wallet page names no hardware wallet. 1837383940 |
Hardware-wallet custody
| Device maker | Status | What users can and cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| Ledger | PartialSame as native: Unknown | Cannot: Add a Bitlayer account in Ledger's own wallet unless Ledger has switched the network on: current Ledger Wallet code includes Bitlayer but hides it behind a feature switch that is off by defaultFirst-party support exists in Ledger's code but is limited to a switch that is off by default, and no readable Ledger page confirms it has been switched on for users; Ledger coin pages tried for Bitlayer and BTR returned 404. Signing on Bitlayer through a general EVM wallet paired with a Ledger was not documented by Ledger or Bitlayer and was not tested. 3940 |
| Trezor | Through an intermediaryMetaMask or Rabby, listed on Trezor's BTR pageSame as native: Unknown | Can: Keep the key for a Bitlayer address on a Trezor Safe 3, Safe 5 or Safe 7 and sign Bitlayer transactions through MetaMask or Rabby, which Trezor's BTR page lists beside the Bitlayer network Can: Hold BTR's Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain versions, networks Trezor Suite supports natively; those are token copies on other chains, not custody on Bitlayer Cannot: Open Bitlayer accounts in Trezor Suite: Trezor's supported-coins guide does not list Bitlayer among Suite's native networks and says coins Suite does not show need third-party wallet apps Cannot: Secure the BTC reserves behind Bitlayer's gas coin: a hardware wallet protects the user's Bitlayer keys, while the reserves stay with the bridge's custodiansTrezor's page is a token page for BTR that names Trezor Suite, MetaMask and Rabby beside Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain and Bitlayer without saying which app handles which network; its generic text says Trezor Suite works with Bitlayer, but Trezor's supported-coins guide does not list Bitlayer among Suite's networks. The page does not mention the BTC used as gas on Bitlayer. Older Trezor models were not listed. 3738 |
Public data
iKnow Blockchain has no public-data lookups for Bitlayer yet. This is a limit of the service, not a statement about the network.
| Lookup | Status | What it covers and its limits |
|---|---|---|
| Address or account | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| Tokens and assets | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| NFTs | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| Transactions | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
Sourced developments
Developments: Review overdue Reviewed Sep 27, 2026; next review was due Oct 7, 2026, 12:00 UTC.
Publication date · newest first
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Bitlayer shuts down its public testnet
Bitlayer announced that it would shut down its public testnet at 23:00 UTC on 31 July 2026, discontinuing all testnet services, data and endpoints. Test data would not be kept and test assets would not be converted to mainnet. Mainnet services were stated to be unaffected.
- Implementation:Announced
- Release:not a software release
- Activation:scheduled for 31 July 2026 at 23:00 UTC per the post
Sources: Bitlayer Blog — Bitlayer Testnet Shutdown Notice (external site) · Bitlayer Documentation — Network (external site)
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Bitlayer's official bridge drops BRC-20 and Runes tokens
Bitlayer announced that its official bridge would stop supporting BRC-20 and Runes tokens, permanently disabling deposits and withdrawals for them, and advised holders to bridge back to Bitcoin before the cut-off. BTC, ETH and stablecoins were stated to be unaffected. The post is dated 28 May 2026 but gives 30 May 2025 as the cut-off date.
- Implementation:Announced
- Release:not a software release
- Activation:cut-off date stated inconsistently (2025 in the body, 2026 post date)
Sources: Bitlayer Blog — Discontinuation of BRC20 and Runes Asset Support on the Official Bridge (external site) · Bitlayer Documentation — Peg Tokens (external site) · Bitlayer Documentation — Proof of Reserve (external site)
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Bitlayer discontinues its BitVM Bridge
Bitlayer announced it would discontinue its existing BitVM Bridge for an architectural overhaul. BTC deposits to mint YBTC stopped on 28 May 2026 and withdrawals were allowed until 3 June 2026, after which all bridge functions were disabled. The Security Council was to settle broker liquidity directly and burn the matching YBTC on Ethereum, with small leftover balances redeemed over the counter. YBTC.B was stated to be unaffected.
- Implementation:announced; a Phemex article updated 27 August 2026 reported the bridge closed since June 2026
- Release:not a software release
- Activation:deposits disabled 28 May 2026 and withdrawals ended 3 June 2026 per the post
Sources: Bitlayer Blog — Announcement: Discontinuation of BitVM Bridge Service (external site) · Bitlayer Documentation — BitVM Bridge Network (BBN) Governance Framework (external site) · Bitlayer Documentation — BitVM Bridge Mainnet (external site) · Phemex Blog — What Is Bitlayer (BTR) and What Happened to Its Bitcoin Bridge (external site)
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Bitlayer says its public RPC will stop serving historical state
Bitlayer announced maintenance on its mainnet and testnet public RPC nodes and said that afterwards the public service would answer balance and contract-call queries only for the latest state, not for past block heights. Applications that need history were told to run their own archive node or use third-party providers.
- Implementation:Announced
- Release:not a software release
- Activation:after the maintenance window; exact date not stated in the post
Sources: Bitlayer Blog — Bitlayer Public RPC Service Maintenance Announcement (external site) · Bitlayer Documentation — Compile, Run and Deploy (external site)
Topics your AI can explain
Your AI can explain these topics for Bitlayer through the connection, with sources.
Known gaps
What this profile's review did not establish:
- No throughput figure is listed; no primary-source rate was classified for this profile.
- Whether Bitlayer is a Bitcoin layer 2 or a sidechain is contested in labels; this profile files the running V1 chain as a sidechain because Bitlayer's own V2 page calls V1 a sidechain architecture and Bitcoin does not check its state.
- The identities of the up to 21 validators, how they are admitted and what, if anything, they stake were not found; the claim that they do not stake BTR rests on the Bitcoin Layers review, which carries no date but describes BTR as already released.
- The current validator count and block production were not checked directly for this profile; it relies on Bitlayer's docs, Bitcoin Layers and Bitlayer's July 2026 statement that mainnet services continued.
- Who signs for the BTC reserves is documented only as MPC custody platforms including Coinbase and Sinohope; signer count, thresholds and withdrawal controls were not published, and the reserve addresses were not checked on Bitcoin.
- No launch date, audit or live deployment was found for the V2 rollup; Bitlayer announced a public testnet shutdown for 31 July 2026 and discontinued its BitVM Bridge in June 2026.
- Bitlayer's documentation is out of date in places: it still shows the BitVM Bridge as a mainnet beta, lists the closed testnet, lists BRC-20 and Runes peg tokens, and says BTR has not yet launched, although Bitlayer's May 2026 vesting update gives 27 August 2025 as the token generation date.
- Bitlayer's BRC-20 and Runes discontinuation post, in both its English and Chinese versions, is dated 28 May 2026 but gives 29 and 30 May 2025 as the deadlines; the correct year was not confirmed.
- Bitlayer's February 2026 report described YBTC.B's launch on Plasma as bridged via the BitVM Bridge, while its YBTC.B docs describe backing by custodial native BTC and routes mainly over CCIP; the conflict was not resolved.
- Current chain size and bandwidth needs were not published, so the home-node rating rests on the listed CPU, memory and disk speed minimums.
- Ledger coin pages for Bitlayer and BTR returned 404 and Ledger's switch settings for users could not be read, so whether Ledger has turned on the Bitlayer network in its wallet was not confirmed. Trezor's page is a BTR token page, and Trezor's supported-coins guide does not list Bitlayer among Trezor Suite's native networks, so Trezor use rests on MetaMask or Rabby, which was not tested.
- The OKX explorer page listed in Bitlayer's docs returned 404, and BTRScan builds its pages with scripts, so only the docs' description of BTRScan was reviewed.
- Bitcoin Layers' Bitlayer page builds its content with scripts; its review text was read from the site's public source file on GitHub.
- Third-party bridges (Meson and others), exchange operators and liquidity, and bitSmiley's dollar token were not reviewed.
- No light client, payment or state channel, reversible-transfer or recovery feature, or live atomic swap for Bitlayer was verified.
Sources
Oldest dated source check: Source checked Sep 27, 2026 Next check due Oct 27, 2026.
- Welcome to Bitlayer Documentation (external site)
- Bitlayer PoS (V1) Overview (external site)
- About finality (external site)
- Bitlayer VS. Ethereum (external site)
- Bridges (external site)
- Peg Tokens (external site)
- Proof of Reserve (external site)
- Bitlayer Native BTC Asset: Overview & Technical Characteristics (external site)
- Bitlayer Rollup (V2) Overview (external site)
- Bitlayer Rollup (V2) System Design (external site)
- Bitlayer Network Whitepaper 2.0 (external site)
- BitVM Bridge FAQ (external site)
- BitVM Bridge Mainnet (external site)
- BitVM Bridge Network (BBN) Governance Framework (external site)
- Compile, Run and Deploy (external site)
- Block Explorers (external site)
- Cross-chain Protocols (external site)
- Wallets (external site)
- wBTC (external site)
- bitlayer-org/bitlayer-l2 (external site)
- BTRScan (external site)
- Announcement: Discontinuation of BitVM Bridge Service (external site)
- Discontinuation of BRC20 and Runes Asset Support on the Official Bridge (external site)
- Bitlayer Testnet Shutdown Notice (external site)
- Bitlayer Public RPC Service Maintenance Announcement (external site)
- Bitlayer Monthly Report - February 2026 (external site)
- $BTR Tokenomics: Everything to Know (external site)
- Bitlayer Successfully Migrates to Chainlink CCIP As Its Canonical Cross-Chain Infrastructure to Power YBTC (external site)
- Bitlayer-USDC Official Token Swap Announcement (external site)
- Bitlayer CCIP Network - Mainnet Cross-Chain Configuration (external site)
- Bitlayer review (source file behind bitcoinlayers.org/layers/bitlayer) (external site)
- Macaron protocol data (external site)
- bitCow protocol data (external site)
- bitSmiley protocol data (external site)
- USDC contract addresses (external site)
- Supported Protocols (external site)
- Bitlayer wallet (external site)
- Coins and tokens supported on Trezor (external site)
- Ledger Wallet feature-flagged networks (useCurrenciesUnderFeatureFlag.ts, develop branch) (external site)
- Ledger Wallet feature switch currencyBitlayer (declared without an enabled value) (external site)
Report an error
Found something wrong or out of date? Reporting is free, and every chain goes through the same process. Published corrections appear in the public log.
Funding disclosure
Funding disclosures appear here when an upkeep arrangement exists, in the form “Upkeep funded by [name]; verdicts unaffected.” The funder ledger has not been published yet. Neutrality & funding