BOB at ETH Denver: Recap
BOB helped turn ETH Denver into BTC Denver with the buzz of BitVM night, the launch of the bitvm/acc working group, and BOB team members speaking on Bitcoin DeFi panels all over town.
The BOB team recently attended ETH Denver from February 23 to March 2, which saw the members of the team host and attend more events than they could count, join leading panels, and generally enjoy the increasing hype about Bitcoin DeFi among traditionally ETH focused audiences.
This year’s event was particularly important, as it offered an opportunity for BOB to put the Hybrid Layer-2 model and BitVM at the forefront of the Bitcoin DeFi debate—with events like BitVM Night bringing leading researchers, investors and protocols together under one roof.
Read on to see what went down.
Putting BOB’s Hybrid L2 on the map
ETH Denver is one of the world’s preeminent crypto events, and attracts the who’s who of the crypto world. With BOB achieving the big milestone of launching our BitVM bridge on testnet, the team attended as many relevant events as possible to help put BOB’s Hybrid Layer-2 and Bitcoin DeFi on the map.
- vlayer x ETH Denver Hacker House (Feb 24)
Held across four days with workshops, talks, and a $5,000 bounty for the best build using vlayer technology, this gathering focused on ZKPs and data-driven dApps. Greg (Lead Engineer) presented BOB’s Hybrid L2 approach on Feb 24, connecting with a vibrant community of developers. - Restaking Circle (Feb 24)
BOB served as a sponsor at this day-long conference, spotlighting restaking, actively validated services, and modular infrastructure. Made up of four panels and four keynotes, Alexei (Co-Founder) spoke on the “Restaking Beyond Ethereum” panel in the afternoon to share insights on Bitcoin DeFi innovation. - Encode Denver Modular DeFi Hackathon & Research Day (Feb 24–25)
BOB sponsored this event, awarding grants to three standout Bitcoin DeFi projects—BTC Portfolio & Investment Manager, BitShield, and Get Paid to Save the Planet—and hosted a builder workshop led by Derrek (DevRel). We shall cover these winning projects in a separate blog post. - Superchain Space: Denver (Feb 25)
Hosted by Superchain Eco in collaboration with Optimism, Layer Zero, and Celo, this hub focused on bridging relationships and knowledge-sharing in the emerging Superchain era. Alexei delivered a keynote in the early afternoon to highlight BOB’s approach to fusing Bitcoin and Ethereum in the Hybrid L2 model. - Boundless (Feb 25)
At this unveiling of Boundless by RISC Zero—a universal ZK protocol for scalable compute across all chains—Greg (Lead Engineer) joined a panel in the early evening. The event showcased how zero-knowledge proofs can revolutionize blockchain interoperability, from Bitcoin to Ethereum to Solana. - The Official BTC Mini-Summit: Bitcoin Season II (Feb 26)
This was ETHDenver’s first dedicated Bitcoin Summit, and revolved around emerging technical and cultural developments in Bitcoin scaling, staking, lending, and more. Alexei joined a panel at this summit, which saw prominent figures like Robin Linus (BitVM creator) and Dan Held give talks as well. - FOMO Factor: EP1 – Re/Staking Summit (Feb 26)
BOB sponsored this 1 day event which provided a deep dive into new staking and restaking models, hosted at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Chris (Head of BD & Ecosystem) appeared on the “Institutional Adoption” panel in the afternoon alongside the likes of Blockdaemon, StakingRewards and P2P. - Bitcoin Queens Panel (Feb 26)
Part of BTC Denver, this panel shone a light on women shaping BitcoinFi. Hosted by Mezo and Acre, Zhixi (Ecosystem Growth Lead) joined female thought leaders to exchange ideas on Bitcoin staking, bridging, and broader network adoption. - L2 Roast @ ETHDenver by Bitcoin Layers, BOB, & Mezo (Feb 26)
BOB co-hosted this sold-out no-holds-barred event alongside Mezo and Bitcoin Layers, which was designed to scrutinise various L2 protocols in a light and humorous manner. Alexei was part of the open mic session, which saw lots of humorous roasts directed at various L2 approaches, including BOB’s. - Bitcoin Renaissance (Feb 27–28)
The largest event BOB sponsored and took part in, this two day summit hosted by Babylon showcased the forefront of Bitcoin innovation, and the rapidly evolving synergy between Bitcoin and PoS systems. Alexei delivered a keynote on how BOB’s Hybrid Layer-2 can help unlock the full potential of BTC in DeFi, and was also part of two panels. The highlight of the event was Alexei stepping in to moderate the BitVM panel, where he guided the conversation around trust-minimized Bitcoin DeFi.
- BTC Denver (Feb 28)
Showcasing the next wave of Bitcoin innovation—including runes and ordinals—this event featured panels, a hackathon, and even a secret celebrity DJ set. Zhixi participated in an afternoon panel (16:40), contributing insights on Bitcoin’s rapidly expanding DeFi landscape. - House of ZK (Feb 28–Mar 1)
BOB sponsored this two-day Zero-Knowledge main event. On March 1, Alexei delivered a keynote, and joined a panel shortly after, spotlighting trust-minimized Bitcoin DeFi through BitVM.
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Commenting on these events, Zhixi had this to say: “In 2024, BOB came to Denver as a new concept, before our mainnet launch. In 2025, we returned in a new position—established as a top BTC L2 and an OP Superchain, with a growing team across Dev, BD, Marketing, and DevRel.
As a hybrid L2, we had a strong presence at both BTC and EVM-focused events, hanging out with builders from all corners of the space. It is incredible to see the growing excitement around a trust-minimized future for BTC interoperability and BTC DeFi. This is just a beginning—excited for the next!"
Key Announcements During The Week
At Bitcoin Renaissance, Alexei officially unveiled BOB’s BitVM-powered Bitcoin bridge on public testnet—providing a trust-minimized way to bring native BTC into DeFi without relying on third-party custody or multi-signature solutions. This marks a significant upgrade from December’s prototype, including on-chain dispute resolution, secure payment checks, and integration with BOB Gateway.
Alexei also revealed the bitvm/acc working group, a collaborative initiative uniting major institutional and research partners—such as ZeroSync, Babylon, Anchorage Digital, and Rockaway—to accelerate BitVM adoption. By aligning builders, custodians, liquidity providers, and researchers, bitvm/acc aims to ensure BitVM becomes a practical, widely adopted solution in the evolving Bitcoin DeFi landscape.
BitVM Night (25 February)
In conjunction with Fiamma and Babylon, our much-anticipated BitVM Night placed the spotlight squarely on trust-minimized Bitcoin DeFi. The event drew over 280 attendees—including StarkWare, Rootstock, Nubit, Magic Eden, Bankless Ventures, Coinbase, and more—and was very well received.
The evening revolved around two panels:
- What is this BitVM thing everyone’s talking about: Moderated by Janusz (Bitcoin Layers), featuring Alexei (BOB), Yovela (Fiamma), and BitVM creator Robin Linus.
- How do we deliver on the BitVM Promise: Moderated by Isabel Foxen Duke (Bitcoin Rails Podcast), with Gregory (BOB), Aaron Feickert (Alpen Labs), and Hanzhi Liu (Nubit).
Alexei had this to say following the event: “Thanks to the combined efforts of the team, BOB helped turn ETH Denver orange. The excitement around Bitcoin DeFi is real and with BOB's BitVM bridge now live on testnet and the announcement of the new bitvm/acc working group, we have a clear path to make this a reality. 2025 is going to be a big year.”
Increase in BOB’s Visibility and Engagement
BOB’s attendance at ETH Denver was a big hit online, and thanks to the hard work of our social team, we managed to achieve the following:
Social growth: +6,400 new followers + Discord up by 4,115.
Engagement skyrocketed: 317% increase in interaction.
Impressions nearly doubled: 98% jump in reach.
Website traffic surged: +25% new users, +15% active users.
BOB’s Social Media Manager Miguel was thrilled with the results: “Every interaction that we had during ETH Denver was worth its weight in gold, and allowed our community lead and I to drive a lot of social media buzz—amplifying BOB’s visibility and engagement. The metrics speak for themselves.”
Verdict: ETH Denver Was A Great Success
After a week of intense yet enjoyable discussions and networking, it was time to reflect on all the ongoings, and whether BOB had made its mark. The answer to this was a resounding yes, and no one was more content with the outcome than Alexei, who took to X to share his thoughts:
None of this would have been possible without the organisation and foresight of our Events Manager Petra, who was delighted with how everything turned out: “Choosing the right event to attend and sponsor is always tricky, so I was delighted to see the team provide glowing feedback. But BitVM Night was definitely the highlight for me, and seeing everyone have so much fun whilst learning about BitVM made all the time we put into this worth it”.
Missed Us at ETH Denver?
If you weren’t able to connect with us at ETH Denver, don’t worry—there are more events and meetups on the horizon. Stay tuned to our social channels for announcements, and feel free to join our Discord or follow us on X for the latest updates on BitVM, HybridBTC, and future BOB appearances. We’d love to chat with you.
