Bitcoin DeFi has just gained a bunch more utility following the launch of Velar PerpDex on Stacks. Its deployment brings perpetual futures trading to Bitcoin’s decentralized finance ecosystem for the first time. Expectations are high that it will catalyze further innovation on Stacks’ L2 and help grow the network’s TVL.
One Market With More to Follow
It may have been a long time in development, but the wait is over and the wait appears to have been worth it. Velar PerpDex looks and performs just like that of any leading EVM or Solana DEX with one big difference – it’s all built on Bitcoin. As a result, bitcoiners can bridge their BTC trustlessly to Stacks from the Bitcoin network – custodying the original coins on one side and unlocking a tokenized counterpart on the other – before getting to work.
Initially, that “work” simply involves going long or short BTC using the initial BTC/USDh pair on Velar PerpDex, but it’ll be joined soon enough by other markets as the perps platform gets up to speed. There should also be opportunities for LPs to earn fees on Velar, and it shouldn’t be overlooked that USDh, issued by Hermetica, is a high yield stablecoin providing APY of up to 25%.
Yeah, Yield
Yield is the primary selling point for Bitcoin DeFi as a whole. The pitch goes something like this: why keep your BTC in cold storage doing nothing when you could bridge it to L2 where it could be earning you yield, year in, year out? It’s an attractive proposition, and one that more bitcoiners are starting to explore now that Bitcoin’s L2 ecosystem has begun to gather momentum and security fears have abated. So far, everything’s working perfectly – and Stacks, the L2 around which much of this activity revolves – has been operational for years now.
It’s taken time for protocols to come onstream and for users to begin onboarding in significant numbers. Stacks has also deliberately moved slowly, electing to organically build its ecosystem rather than trying to force adoption. It’s a strategy that is now paying dividends. It’s by no means the only L2 hosting Bitcoin DeFi, but it remains the longest standing and most liquid.
It helps that Stacks’ architecture is ideally suited to hosting Velar PerpDex. The network’s recent Nakamoto upgrade introduced a host of enhancements designed to strengthen security and increase decentralization. Stacks transactions can be now mined and confirmed within seconds, supporting applications such as trading platforms that are reliant on speed and high transaction volume.
Stacks’ TVL was recently given a boost by the release of sBTC, tokenized BTC on L2 that uses a trustless peg to adhere to the price of L1 BTC. sBTC marks a breakthrough for Bitcoin DeFi, enabling BTC to be used on Stacks without introducing centralized points of control or risking deviation from the market price of native bitcoin. With VelarPerpDex now live at last, the range of ways in which BTC can be utilized is heating up – and thanks to Hermetica’s USDh, so’s the yield.
Source: Depositphotos
