Starknet Aims too integrate Bitcoin and Ethereum on One Layer 2 Network
Starknet is planning to use Bitcoin as a settlement layer alongside Ethereum. This move aims to connect the two biggest blockchains on a single layer 2 network. the Starknet Foundation’s Bitcoin roadmap, published on March 11, explains how this could scale Bitcoin’s transaction speed from 13 per second to thousands.
Bitcoin offers strong security and liquidity. Though, its limited programmability has made it hard to develop decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.Starknet wants to change this by pushing for OP_CAT, a Bitcoin update. OP_CAT would allow users to set spending conditions for BTC and enable zero-knowledge proofs. These are cryptographic techniques that verify transactions without revealing personal data.
Untill OP_CAT is adopted, Starknet will use BitVM.This verification method lets Bitcoin execute smart contract logic without changing its base layer. The Starknet Foundation has also launched BTCFi Season, a program to expand Bitcoin’s financial use cases. It has partnered with Bitcoin wallet Xverse, which is working to integrate Bitcoin DeFi into its wallet.
StarkWare, Starknet’s core technology provider, has moved part of its treasury into Bitcoin, creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin supports the idea of a highly secure Bitcoin layer 2. He believes it could “make crypto payments great again.”
Buterin noted that scaling problems have slowed Bitcoin’s initial goal of being a peer-to-peer cash system.Current solutions like the Lightning Network have limitations. These include liquidity constraints, routing failures, and the need for always-online nodes, which limit its efficiency for large-scale payments.
