It’s been a very big year for BOB and Bitcoin DeFi.
The past 12 months have been busy, busy, busy. BOB launched and has since hit many important milestones as we deliver on our hybrid L2 promise to combine the best of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
In the last couple of weeks alone, we have successfully tested our BitVM bridge prototype, announced our integration with Babylon to bring Bitcoin finality to the BOB blockchain, and seen a 100% positive temp check vote in favour of Aave deploying on BOB.
But things are just getting started, and in anticipation of a huge 2025, we would like to showcase the Best of BOB in 2024, as a thank you for our community’s continued support.
Read on to learn more.
Bitcoin DeFi gains real traction
2024 has been a breakthrough year for Bitcoin DeFi, with TVL across Bitcoin Layer-2s surpassing $3 billion—a 1300% increase since January and equivalent to approximately 30k BTC.
This is thanks in no small part to the launch of Bitcoin staking and BTC LSTs (liquid staking tokens). Babylon achieved $5+ billion TVL in their non-custodial staking protocol and LSTs already account for a significant proportion of TVL on Bitcoin L2s, helping release untapped BTC liquidity into DeFi.
Looking to the future, Bitcoin DeFi TVL still sits at just 0.1% of its total market capitalization, compared to about 30% for Ethereum. The road to growth is clear, and Bitcoin DeFi is here to stay.
BOB is delivering on the Hybrid L2 promise
With the release of our Hybrid Layer-2 whitepaper in October, we laid out BOB’s mission to position Bitcoin as the new backbone of decentralized finance. Our novel Hybrid L2 model can achieve this by inheriting Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work security, while providing trust-minimized bridges to Bitcoin, Ethereum and other L1s.
Phase 1 of the BOB roadmap was completed in May. This involved bootstrapping BOB as an Ethereum Layer-2 built with the OP Stack, establishing a native Ethereum bridge and support for third-party Bitcoin bridges, and improving Bitcoin DeFi UX to build a thriving community and Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem.
Earlier in December, we took two major steps toward entering Phase 2 of our Hybrid L2 roadmap:
- We announced the future integration of Babylon’s Bitcoin staking protocol, which will bring Bitcoin finality to BOB and establish us as a Bitcoin Secured Network (BSN). This will anchor our security in Bitcoin while cementing BOB as the best place to use Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) in DeFi.
- We then successfully tested our prototype BitVM bridge in collaboration with Fiamma. Based on the latest BitVM2 research paper, this trust-minimized bridge will allow secure BTC deposits and withdrawals without relying on centralized intermediaries.
BOB phase 2 rollout is planned for early 2025 as the Babylon integration is completed and the BitVM bridge prototype is launched on BOB’s testnet and then mainnet.
The numbers don’t lie
$11.6 million raised: BOB successfully raised $10M in a seed round in March, thanks to our lead Castle Island Ventures, and participation from Coinbase Ventures, IOSG, Mechanism Capital and others. An additional $1.6M was raised in a strategic round featuring Ledger Cathay Ventures and a number of significant figures in the Bitcoin community.
100+ projects on BOB: More than 100 projects are building on or integrating BOB, including powerhouse names such as Uniswap (Oku Trade), Lombard, Solv, Bedrock, Staking Rewards, Everstake, XVerse and Pell.
+322% DeFi TVL growth in Q4: Between October and December, DeFi TVL skyrocketed, highlighting the growing interest in Bitcoin DeFi on BOB.
18.9M completed transactions: This is the number of transactions with success status on BOB. In Q4 BOB was one of the top-5 Bitcoin L2s in terms of transaction volume.
334K DeFi users: This is the number of externally owned accounts (EOAs) that have sent at least 1 transaction on BOB.
370k+ community: 290k followers on Twitter, 70k in Discord and 13k on Telegram. We love the BOB community and have experienced exponential growth this year, having started from zero.
Notable milestones
Below are some key milestones we achieved in 2024 relating to product, ecosystem growth and key events.
Product
BOB Fusion: In March, leading up to our Mainnet launch, we introduced BOB Fusion, our official points program. Now in its third and final season, BOB Fusion has seen more than 500k people harvest Spice while supporting the growth of the network and ecosystem.
BOB Mainnet Launch: In May, we launched BOB mainnet, and started our Bitcoin DeFi journey with 40 projects live on day 1.
BOB Pay: We introduced BOB Pay in July. Leveraging wallet abstraction, BOB Pay makes sending Bitcoin and stablecoins as easy as sending an email. No more wallets, apps, or seed phrases—just simple, fast, and secure transactions.
BitVM2 research paper: In August, an improved design for executing programs on Bitcoin was released in the form of the BitVM2 paper. BOB co-founder, Alexei Zamyatin, co-authored the paper.
BOB Stake: In September, BOB Stake introduced 1-click Bitcoin staking for the first time, allowing BTC holders to deploy assets into Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs), DeFi vaults, and yield products in a single bitcoin transaction. This solution leverages Bitcoin intents, streamlining staking for retail and institutional users.
Bitcoin Secured Network: By integrating Babylon’s Bitcoin staking protocol, we will establish BOB as a Bitcoin Secured Network (BSN). This integration will anchor BOB’s security in Bitcoin while unlocking liquidity through Babylon-backed LSTs like LBTC, SolvBTC and Bedrock, driving significant growth in DeFi participation and TVL.
BitVM Bridge Prototype: In collaboration with Fiamma, we successfully tested a BitVM bridge prototype. Based on the latest BitVM2 research, this trust-minimized bridge facilitates secure BTC deposits and withdrawals without centralized intermediaries.
Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem growth
Simplifying BTC staking for millions: Over 5 million users will gain access to 1-click BTC staking through partnerships with Xverse, Pell, Everstake, and Staking Rewards. By integrating BOB Stake, these websites and wallets will streamline staking for retail and institutional users, helping boost adoption across the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem.
Expanding the LST ecosystem: In 2024, Bedrock, Solv, and PumpBTC launched their Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) on BOB, unlocking BTC liquidity and driving DeFi participation. Lombard Finance has now also deployed $LBTC, the largest Bitcoin LST with $1.6 billion TVL, making BOB its fourth native deployment.
Partnering with Babylon: Integrating Babylon’s Bitcoin staking protocol will establish BOB as a Bitcoin Secured Network (BSN) and the best place to use Babylon-backed LSTs like LBTC and SolvBTC in DeFi. There is currently a 45-day campaign rewarding people using Bitcoin LSTs on BOB with a share of 4.5M Babylon Points.
Aave temp check approval: Aave Chan Initiative (ACI), a leading Aave DAO contributor, proposed an Aave deployment on BOB. The temp check vote was passed with 100% in favour.
Global events
ETH Denver 2024: In February, we hosted a 5-day Hackerhouse with 35 builders and workshops by projects like Ordinals, Sovryn, and Xverse. We also cohosted a flagship full-day event, Bitcoin Renaissance, with Babylon, OKX, and Polygon. It was attended by 1,200 participants, and featured panels with industry leaders like Nic Carter and Sandeep Nailwal.
Bitcoin Shark Tank #2 (Bangkok): Held during Devcon week in November, this event brought together over 200 VCs, investors, and founders to support emerging Bitcoin DeFi projects. Highlights included pitches from nine teams and the crowning of Coffer Network as the winner.
BOB APAC Tour: In order to gain exposure in the Asia–Pacific region, we attended Korea Blockchain Week, and hosted a variety of builder events in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, as well as attending Token2049.
Bitcoin Asia Hackathon: We strengthened BOB’s presence in the Chinese market by partnering with this prominent hackathon to foster innovation and collaboration.
Thank you
We have had a very productive 2024 here at BOB, and none of this would have been possible without the support of our valued community, partners and investors.
But this is just the beginning, and besides the roll out of Bitcoin security and BitVM bridges, we expect many more big milestones in the coming months.
Thank you for reading, and we look forward to sharing more updates in 2025 and beyond.
Watch this space.
