Exploring the Power of Bitcoin: Unveiling Merlin Chain, your essential Native L2 Solution.

New York, United States, January 31st, 2024, Chainwire

This week, the eagerly awaited Bitcoin Layer 2 solution, Merlin Chain, officially launched on its testnet, with plans for its mainnet release set for next month.

The Challenges of Bitcoin's Network Overload and Its Scaling Solutions

The recent rise of Ordinals has reignited interest in the Bitcoin ecosystem after a prolonged lull. While this surge has generated excitement, it has also strained network resources. The rising transaction fees, combined with the increasing value of Bitcoin, has led to heightened congestion and has discouraged new users from engaging with the platform.

(Average Daily Bitcoin Transaction Fee: YCharts)

The concept of an EVM-compatible L2 network has been identified as a promising route for delivering rapid results, owing to its straightforward implementation.

Merlin Chain stands out as an EVM-compatible Layer 2 chain, developed by Bitmap Tech (formerly known as Recursiverse), the creators of the BRC-420 protocols and Bitmap.game. The community holds the team in high regard for their impressive previous achievements.

BRC-420

The BRC-420 protocol facilitates the combination and recursion of any file type, allowing the creation of intricate inscriptions. Whether it’s an image of a character, a script for a game, a virtual machine, or an AI model, all can transform into valuable Bitcoin assets.

The core asset, referred to as the Blue Box, has surged from an inscription cost of $0.15 to an all-time high floor price of $26,000. Additionally, other assets like Mineral and This Song About NFTs have become some of the most actively traded options in the OKX market. With over 1,000 developers and 600 diverse collections, it has shown remarkable resilience during the bear market, consistently rising without drops.

Bitmap.Game

Bitmap.Game is a fully on-chain, decentralized project promoting fair-launch metaverse experiences. It’s grounded in the Digital Matter Theory that underpins Bitcoin and is open-sourced for verification by any client, embodying the principles of \"client agnosticism\" in entirely on-chain gaming.

Throughout this period, Bitmap's market capitalization has skyrocketed from $3 million to an impressive all-time high of $290 million. With over 30,000 holders, Bitmap has officially outpaced Sandbox as the most held metaverse asset across all blockchains.

Unlocking Bitcoin's Potential with Innovative Solutions

Merlin Chain envisions that Bitcoin's Layer 2 solutions should transcend mere low-cost transactions or the mere functionality of DApps. Their focus is on groundbreaking ideas to tap into Bitcoin’s full potential through its integrated assets, users, and protocols.

For instance, since Bitmap is entirely decentralized, the challenge lies in creating games that leverage it, enabling Bitmap users to explore various metaverses affordably. Additionally, for DeFi protocols based on BRC-420, the goal is to link NFT and FT in a synergistic manner, and for minting inscriptions, the aim is to facilitate the minting of Layer 1 assets on Layer 2 more efficiently and flexibly. Such distinctly 'Bitcoin-native' innovations are essential for empowering the ecosystem, moving beyond mere replicas of Ethereum’s model.

So far, Merlin Chain has established a robust ecosystem of decentralized applications, effectively addressing liquidity challenges, and is poised for future expansion.

Utilizing ZK-Rollup for Streamlined and Secure Scaling

The varied ecosystem and assets present heightened throughput needs and potential security concerns. To tackle this, Merlin Chain utilizes ZK-Rollup technology, which compresses numerous transaction proofs into a simplified checksum, enhancing both transaction efficiency and scalability.

Sequencer nodes on Merlin Chain play a crucial role in gathering and grouping transactions, producing compressed transaction data, state roots, and proofs through zkEVM. This compressed data and ZK proofs are then relayed through a decentralized Oracle network to taproot on Bitcoin Layer 1, made accessible to the entire network to uphold transparency and security.

To mitigate improper conduct, decentralized Oracle network nodes are required to stake $BTC. Users have the capability to challenge ZK-Rollups based on compressed data, state roots, and ZK proofs. Successful challenges will revert the system to the last valid state, resulting in the forfeiture of the Oracle node’s staked $BTC, ensuring the trustworthiness and security of the system.

By integrating these innovative technologies, Merlin Chain showcases its superior technical prowess and is well on its way to establishing a highly efficient, secure, and authentic Bitcoin Layer 2 solution.

Emphasizing Native Integration – The Bitcoin-Centric Focus of Merlin Chain

Distinct from other Bitcoin Layer 2 projects currently emerging, a standout attribute of Merlin Chain is its intrinsic 'Bitcoin Native' identity.

As a long-time advocate for Bitcoin, Merlin Chain is wholeheartedly devoted to nurturing the Bitcoin ecosystem. The mission is to attract additional users and assets to Bitcoin through their initiatives, in contrast to merely representing other ecosystems under the guise of Bitcoin. Consequently, Merlin Chain places great importance on the genuine Bitcoin nature of its projects and users.

Merlin Chain is designed to support Bitcoin-native wallets. Enhanced by the Particle Network’s account abstraction, users can effortlessly toggle between Layer 1 and Layer 2 using their Bitcoin wallets. Individuals can also perform swaps between $BTC and other tokens, like stablecoins, without needing to switch to an EVM wallet.

Moreover, Merlin Chain is set to back a wide array of major protocols on Bitcoin Layer 1, including, but not limited to, BRC-20, Bitmap, BRC-420, Atomicals, SRC20, and Pipe. All inscriptions on Layer 1 will automatically be whitelisted, providing users with a safe and cost-effective trading platform.

Aligning with its vision of being 'Bitcoin Native', Merlin Chain intends to utilize BRC-20 as its governance token. This approach is significantly more pertinent than other Bitcoin Layer 2s currently adopting Ethereum-based tokens as governance tokens. The token will be issued via a fair launch, apart from a small allocation for VCs and the development team; this allocation will have a four-year vesting schedule, with the initial two years off the table, reflecting the confidence the team and its investors hold in Merlin Chain.

Bridging the Divide – Streamlining Bitcoin Adoption and Stimulating Growth

A persistent challenge for innovators within the Bitcoin ecosystem is the stagnant influx of new users and capital. Despite the excitement surrounding Ordinals, there hasn’t been a notable rise in the number of active addresses. The involved community remains largely unchanged, continuing to engage in various projects. The root of this issue lies fundamentally in Bitcoin's complexity. Besides needing to download a Bitcoin wallet, the process of inscribing is not straightforward. Users must dedicate at least two blocks of time to the inscription process and an additional three blocks for confirmation, rendering it cumbersome and time-consuming.

(Daily Active Bitcoin Addresses: Glassnode)

Merlin Chain aims to tackle these challenges head-on. Presently, Merlin Chain is linked to 40 Ethereum chains, allowing users unfamiliar with Bitcoin to interact seamlessly using their preferred wallets like MetaMask alongside familiar assets such as stablecoins, $ETH, or $BNB. Newcomers don’t have to fully grasp the technicalities of Bitcoin or familiarize themselves with terminologies such as BRC-20 or Atomicals to experience Bitcoin in its native form through a more accessible lens.

To cater to this need, Merlin Chain is rolling out the first multi-chain inscription decentralized application, enabling users to inscribe assets on multiple layers, including Bitcoin Layer 1, directly through Merlin Chain with just one block wait time. Additionally, a launchpad will be featured on Merlin Chain, with a mechanism that prices every inscription at a baseline valuation of $100,000 FDV, facilitating easier access for users wishing to acquire assets like BRC-20, BRC-420, Atomicals, and Runes at modest prices. As part of its commitment to decentralization, Merlin Chain will allocate the bulk of its governance tokens directly to the community.

Stay updated about the upcoming mainnet launch – with Merlin Chain at the forefront, the future of Bitcoin is on the verge of an exciting evolution.

About Merlin Chain

Merlin Chain, an innovative Bitcoin Layer 2 network, amalgamates ZK-Rollup technology, a decentralized oracle network, and on-chain BTC fraud-proof mechanisms. Its mission is to enhance Bitcoin's local assets, protocols, and products on Layer 1 through its Layer 2 framework, aiming to Bring Fun Back to Bitcoin. Merlin Chain operates as a product line under Bitmap Tech, an esteemed OG team with a market cap surpassing $500 million. The BRC-420 “Blue Box” collection from Bitmap Tech has emerged as a premier asset within the Ordinals landscape.

Users can begin following Merlin Chain’s progress. Twitter for more updates.

Contact

Jeff
Merlin Chain