Bitlayer Partners with Mining Pools Accounting for Almost 40% of Bitcoin Hashrate to Achieve First BitVM Implementation

Following the debut of the first BitVM Bridge testnet and upcoming mainnet, the whole Bitcoin ecosystem has been abuzz with anticipation. Now, a pivotal milestone in advancing BitVM’s real-world adoption has arrived: the strategic alignment of top Bitcoin mining pools will redefine BitVM’s development trajectory.

Today, we’re beyond excited to break the news: Bitlayer has forged strategic partnerships with three major BTC mining pools, including Antpool, F2Pool, and SpiderPool. This collaboration marks the crucial infrastructure breakthrough needed to bring BitVM Bridge into operational implementation.

For this partnership, Kevin He, co-founder of Bitlayer, articulated, “BitVM represents the most credible path to bring onchain validation function to Bitcoin while maintaining its core security guarantees. BitVM will enable turing-complete smart contract expression on Bitcoin, empowering various use cases such as BitVM bridge, Bitcoin Rollup, Bitcoin protocols, etc. This partnership solves the critical last-mile challenge of Non-Standard Transaction (NST) inclusion through strategic mining pool partnerships.”

Andy, CEO of Antpool, delivered a speech on Bitcoin’s long-term value: “Antpool has become the bridge operator for Bitlayer to support Bitcoin innovation and protect miners’ interests. Built on BitVM technology, Bitlayer enables BTC to flow securely into DeFi and Layer 2 ecosystems. This expansion of Bitcoin’s use cases will drive more network activity, generating additional transaction fees and revenue opportunities for miners. As block rewards decrease over time, growing fee markets are critical for miners’ sustainable income. By backing Bitlayer, Antpool is helping strengthen Bitcoin’s infrastructure, expand its utility, and ensure long-term value creation for the mining community. “

Leon Liang, Chief Strategy Officer at F2Pool, stated, “F2Pool’s top priority is the security of the Bitcoin network, but we also would like to embrace innovation, supporting high-quality BitVM projects like Bitlayer.”

Kenway, CTO of SpiderPool, highlighted miners’ and Bitcoin DeFi’s future in the new era: “We are excited to work with Bitlayer to unlock new possibilities for Bitcoin DeFi. At SpiderPool, our vision is to foster a robust, decentralized, and sustainable Bitcoin ecosystem that empowers miners and supports the network’s long-term growth. This partnership aligns seamlessly with this vision by integrating SpiderPool’s mining expertise with Bitlayer’s advanced BitVM Bridge. Bitcoin DeFi has historically been limited by the main chain’s scalability constraints, but Bitlayer’s BitVM based scaling solutions address this by enabling faster, low-cost transactions while preserving Bitcoin’s security. This partnership not only enhances the functionality of Bitcoin as a platform for financial services but also reinforces the critical role of miners in powering decentralized finance. “

Mining Pools as BitVM Bridge Guardians

Bitlayer’s BitVM Bridge stands as a transformative innovation in Bitcoin bridging technology, meticulously developed by Bitlayer and underpinned by the advanced BitVM paradigm.

Currently, the challenge path for BitVM bridges requires NSTs, which is acceptable for Bitcoin consensus but unacceptable for the default Bitcoin Core client.

To address this, Bitlayer has invited mempools to provide a network interface that accepts NSTs and guarantees on-chain transaction confirmation. With this capability, any one could submit NST in the challenge path through reliable mempool/miners, thereby enhancing the security of the BitVM bridge.

The participation of mining pools accounting for over 36.2% of Bitcoin’s hashrate aligns their mining operations with Bitcoin’s long-term evolution, and creates a novel economic model possibility:

• Operators receive fee income from BitVM Bridge verification services
• Infrastructure supports Bitcoin Rollup development
• All innovations or models we can’t currently conceive

Meanwhile, the Bitlayer research team will work closely with its partners to actively promote the continuous iteration of the bitvm protocol.

Next Steps

The timing of Bitlayer’s latest strategic alignment, coming soon after its partnership with leading Layer 1 blockchains and protocols such as Sui, Base, Starknet, Arbitrum, Sonic, Sundial, and Plume Network, reveals the intensifying demand for BitVM-based BTC bridge. This accelerated cadence of collaborations between Bitcoin mining pools and at the protocol level underscores a market-wide recognition of BitVM Bridge’s emerging role as a key infrastructure.

Bitlayer is committed to an open and collaborative Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem. Becoming a BitVM Bridge validator is an exciting opportunity to be part of a rapidly growing and innovative BTCFi ecosystem. The Bitlayer team is currently onboarding additional partners ready to be early adopters of the BitVM Bridge and BTCFi pioneers, safeguarding the long-term security of the Bitcoin network.

Follow Bitlayer official channels for more details about mainnet launches soon.

About Antpool

Antpool is the world’s leading cryptocurrency mining platform, currently supporting ten cryptocurrencies and rewarding miners daily for their contributed hash power. Antpool has been committed to providing users with high-quality multi-currency mining services since its establishment in 2014.

Learn more: https://www.antpool.com/home.

Contact: [email protected]

About F2Pool

F2Pool is a geographically distributed mining pool, helping miners all over the globe secure Bitcoin and 40+ Proof–of–Work networks since 2013.

Learn more: https://www.f2pool.com/.

Contact: [email protected]

About SpiderPool

Founded in 2018, SpiderPool is a world-leading multi-coin mining pool, dedicated to maximizing profitability. As a former top 3 global Ethereum mining pool, we leveraged our expertise to launch a Bitcoin mining pool in 2024 - rapidly rising to rank among the world’s top 6.

Learn more: https://www.spiderpool.com/.

Contact: [email protected]

About Bitlayer

Bitlayer is pioneering the first BitVM implementation. By merging unparalleled security with a lightning-fast smart contract engine, Bitlayer unlocks the full potential of Bitcoin DeFi.

Bitlayer is committed to an open and collaborative Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem, working with partners to advance BTC Bridge, Bitcoin Layer 2 and BitVM stack, driving the future of secure, scalable, and programmable Bitcoin finance.

Learn more: https://www.bitlayer.org/.

Contact: [email protected]