Written by: JiaYi
23,500 BTC, what level is it?
As an investor who is optimistic about Bitcoin and related tracks in the long term, I have invested in multiple BTC track projects, such as Babylon, Bouncebit, Yala, Lorenzo and Solv, etc. In particular, Solv recently released a major update and launched SAL (Staking Abstraction Layer), which has shown good steady growth momentum in operations and community support.
Currently, 23,500 BTC have been pledged on Solv. Except for Block.one and the long-defunct Mt.Gox, this number is second only to MicroStrategy (252,220) and Tesla (252,220), and higher than Marathon, Hut 8 and other mining companies.
What is the main battlefield of BTCFi? In other words, what problem does BTCFi want to solve? This is also a must-answer question for the Bitcoin ecosystem. Today, I will briefly talk about my understanding of the BTCFi track from an investor's perspective.
Bitcoin is following the path of DeFi Summer
Those who have experienced the initial wave of DeFi Summer on the old chain Degen must be familiar with the "on-chain machine gun pool" yearn.fi.
In my opinion, for the Bitcoin ecosystem, Solv and the like play the role of a "machine gun pool". Everyone can feel that whether it is traditional packaged Bitcoin such as BTCB and WBTC, or new types of Bitcoin assets such as FBTC and M-BTC, they have indeed released Bitcoin's liquidity into the on-chain scenario, but the two sides of the coin have also made the problem of Bitcoin liquidity fragmentation more and more serious.
Especially for users who have difficulty making choices, if they want to earn stable and higher returns, they may even need a lot of xxBTC in their wallets. Therefore, Solv, a full-chain revenue and liquidity protocol with a multi-chain and multi-asset strategy, is actually equivalent to a "revenue aggregator" of Bitcoin assets:
Regardless of BTCB, FBTC, MBTC, xx BTC...different BTC assets on different chains can be minted into SolvBTC to simplify everyone's asset management experience.
Of course, this is also equivalent to integrating the liquidity opportunities of different Bitcoin assets. One SolvBTC goes all over the chain to form a unified asset pool, bringing more diversified income opportunities to holders.
BTCFi will give birth to a huge asset package ecosystem
Bitcoin was actually very "lonely" in the past few years.
In the past few crypto market climaxes, whether it was the ICO boom in 2017, the DeFi "summer" in 2020, or the subsequent NFT narrative, the Bitcoin ecosystem seemed to have been marginalized, and BTC was regarded as a "non-interest-bearing asset."
However, since last year, more and more projects have been trying to provide stable on-chain income for BTC, gradually turning it into an interest-bearing asset. This trend not only awakens the dormant Bitcoin, but also opens the door for BTC to enter the on-chain income market, marking the redefinition and release of BTC value by the entire ecosystem.
I have never invested in any ETH staking projects because I believe that BTC is a more suitable asset for users to stake. Users holding BTC have the strongest tolerance for short- and medium-term fluctuations. From the perspective of comprehensive staking income, BTC's interest-bearing properties are more conducive to the steady growth of personal assets.
For new Web3 users, or "new leeks", the first mainstream crypto asset to hold is still BTC - the largest and most risk-resistant crypto native asset with a value of up to 1.35 trillion US dollars. As long as the income opportunities are rich and diverse enough, most Holders will inevitably be tempted by such opportunities.
Solv's imagination is not limited to staking income, but also includes re-staking income, trading strategy income, etc. Of course, this also brings about complex interactive scenarios. Although it greatly expands the scope of application and value of Bitcoin assets, risks are also increasing simultaneously.
Therefore, Solv recently launched the Solv Staking Abstraction Layer (SAL), which is simply a universal standardized Bitcoin staking industry security standard and framework, which puts a series of Bitcoin income and asset management scenarios in a risk-isolated cage , and uses smart contract technology and Bitcoin mainnet technology to achieve seamless cooperation between pledgers, LST issuers, pledge agreements, and other pledge service providers, while simplifying the interaction between users and the Bitcoin pledge agreement.
If the Bitcoin staking ecosystem wants to grow bigger and bigger, it needs such a universal security layer. Solv, the largest blockchain company, taking the lead in this matter is one of the most suitable choices.
Bet on the entire Chaoyang track with action
Bitcoin, which has a market value of over one trillion U.S. dollars, has previously released its liquidity mainly in the form of packaged tokens (WBTC, etc.), which are then cross-chained to the Ethereum network and coupled with the EVM ecosystem to participate in on-chain scenarios such as DeFi, but only about tens of billions of U.S. dollars can be truly released.
The investment field is the easiest place to create myths, but the underlying logic is actually very realistic. When Masayoshi Son invested in Alibaba, the market once had a so-called "six-minute investment".
Then the fact is that Jack Ma's team was not Masayoshi Son's first and only cooperation partner. On that day, in the same office, including Jack Ma, nearly 10 Internet companies gathered together, waiting to meet with Masayoshi Son and his team.
Behind immaturity lies opportunity. Bet on the entire Chaoyang track with action.
I agree with a point made by Pantera partner Franklin Bi - if DeFi reaches the same proportion on Bitcoin as on Ethereum, it means that the total value of DeFi applications on Bitcoin will reach 340 billion US dollars (25% of Bitcoin's market value) , and its scale may fluctuate between 108 billion US dollars and 680 billion US dollars (8% and 50%) over time.
In fact, I also invested in Solv twice in a row, taking over the shares myself:
- The first investment was because the founder Ryan is one of the few founders with great potential that I have met. He is modest, sunny, and direct. Although young, every time I meet him, I can see his cognitive upgrade. In the two years of contact, I have basically seen a person's rapid iteration. This is undoubtedly a booster for investors;
- The second investment was because of Solv’s current performance. In particular, during the bull-bear cycle of the crypto market, Solv achieved profitability early. As the market changes, Solv has experienced business iterations or transformations, but as long as it is done, it is the first . The logic behind it is that it has a deep insight into DeFi, a firm belief, and a strong execution spirit;
However, the Staking/Restaking track is facing common secondary market pressure - as more and more projects enter the Listing stage, in order to increase the FDV before listing, it brings heavy selling pressure to the market . Therefore, although many projects have good TVL and revenue structure, the coin price performance continues to be sluggish, which has also led to doubts about the operating models of some early projects and even dragged down the performance of related pledged assets.
If BTCFi wants to break the curse of the track, it is not an easy task. Only by balancing the performance of currency prices in the secondary market can investors see the greater potential of the Bitcoin staking ecosystem.
