Exploring Bitcoin’s Untapped Potential: Meet the Innovative Merlin Chain, a Native L2 Solution.

New York, USA, January 31, 2024, Chainwire

This week, the much-anticipated Bitcoin L2 solution, Merlin Chain, has officially launched its testnet, with its mainnet expected to follow in about a month.

Bitcoin's Network Congestion and Solutions for Scalability

The rise of Ordinals has reignited interest in the Bitcoin ecosystem after a prolonged lull. While this has sparked enthusiasm, it has also led to a strain on network resources. The growing transaction fees, alongside Bitcoin's surging value, have worsened network congestion, deterring potential newcomers to Bitcoin.

(Bitcoin Daily Average Transaction Fee $: YCharts)

Creating an EVM-compatible L2 network has been acknowledged as a viable path to deliver quick results, largely due to its straightforward implementation.

Merlin Chain emerges as an EVM-compatible L2 chain developed by Bitmap Tech (previously known as Recursiverse), the brains behind the BRC-420 protocols and Bitmap.game, which has garnered significant appreciation within the community due to their successful previous endeavors.

BRC-420

The BRC-420 protocol permits the combination or recursion of any file type, creating more complex inscriptions. Whether it’s an image of a character, a game script, a virtual machine, or even an AI model, it can be turned into a Bitcoin asset.

The flagship asset, known as the Blue Box, has surged from an inscription cost of $0.15 to achieve an astonishing ATH floor price of $26,000. Alongside it, assets like Mineral and This Song About NFTs have become some of the most actively traded assets on the OKX marketplace. With over 1,000 developers engaged and more than 600 collections established, it has performed remarkably even in a bear market, with prices consistently rising.

Bitmap.Game

Bitmap.Game is a completely decentralized, fully on-chain metaverse venture. Rooted in the principles of Digital Matter Theory, which supports Bitcoin, it is open-sourced, allowing any client to operate or audit it, thus embodying the notion of 'client agnosticism' in entirely on-chain gaming.

During this timeframe, Bitmap’s market cap ballooned from $3 million to a peak of nearly $290 million. With over 30,000 holders, Bitmap now boasts the highest holder count among metaverse assets across all blockchains, surpassing the Sandbox.

Realizing Bitcoin’s Potential Through Creative Innovations

At Merlin Chain, there is a belief that Bitcoin's L2 solutions should transcend the mere idea of cheap transactions or merely hosting DApps; the focus should also be on truly innovating to tap into Bitcoin's potential via its native assets, protocols, and users.

For instance, with Bitmap as a completely decentralized asset, the goal is to facilitate the creation of games based on it, enabling Bitmap users to explore various metaverses at minimal costs; or, for DeFi protocols built on BRC-420, it's crucial to foster mutual enhancement between NFT and FT; and regarding minting inscriptions, it needs to be possible to mint L1 assets on L2 in a more cost-efficient and flexible manner. Only these innovations that are inherently 'Bitcoin-native' can sustainably empower the ecosystem instead of mirroring Ethereum's modus operandi.

As of now, Merlin Chain has established a robust DApp ecosystem, effectively addressing liquidity challenges, and is mapping out plans for further growth.

Utilizing ZK-Rollup for Efficient and Secure Expansion

The diverse ecosystem and assets also mean higher throughput demands and certain security risks. To tackle this, Merlin Chain is implementing ZK-Rollup, which condenses numerous transaction proofs into a straightforward checksum, thereby enhancing transaction efficiency and scalability.

On Merlin Chain, sequencer nodes bear the responsibility of accumulating and batching transactions, generating compressed transaction data, ZK state roots, and proofs utilizing zkEVM. This condensed data and ZK proofs are uploaded through the decentralized Oracle network to the Bitcoin L1 taproot, which is accessible to the broader network to maintain transparency and security.

Nodes in the decentralized Oracle network must stake $BTC to prevent malicious activities. Users have the ability to challenge the ZK-Rollup based on the compressed data, state roots, and proofs. Successful challenges result in reverting to the last verified state and the forfeiture of the staked $BTC from the Oracle node, thereby assuring the system's reliability and integrity.

By integrating these advanced technologies, Merlin Chain has demonstrated its exceptional technical prowess and is well on its way to establishing an efficient, secure, and Bitcoin-native L2 solution.

Native Integration – Merlin Chain's Focused Approach on Bitcoin

When contrasting Merlin Chain with other Bitcoin L2 solutions currently being developed, one standout characteristic is its 'Bitcoin Native' ethos.

A long-time advocate for Bitcoin, Merlin Chain is deeply committed to nurturing the Bitcoin ecosystem and aims to attract more users and assets to Bitcoin through its developments rather than serving other ecosystems under the banner of Bitcoin. Thus, Merlin Chain places significant emphasis on the native Bitcoin essence of its ecosystem's projects and users.

Merlin Chain accommodates bitcoin-native wallets. Thanks to the Particle Network’s account abstraction technology, users can effortlessly switch between L1 and L2 using their Bitcoin wallets. Moreover, they can engage in $BTC swaps with various tokens, like stablecoins, at any time without needing to transition to an EVM wallet.

Furthermore, Merlin Chain will support most core protocols on Bitcoin L1, encompassing BRC-20, Bitmap, BRC-420, Atomicals, SRC20, and Pipe. All inscriptions on L1 will be automatically whitelisted by Merlin Chain, ensuring users can trade safely and affordably.

In line with its 'Bitcoin Native' philosophy, Merlin Chain is poised to adopt BRC-20 as its governance token. This choice is far more sensible compared to other Bitcoin L2s that currently employ Ethereum-standard tokens for governance. The token will be introduced through a fair launch, save for a minor share allocated to VCs and the development team, which will undergo a 48-month release schedule commencing two years from now, providing assurance in the team's and investors' confidence in Merlin Chain.

Bridging the Divide – Streamlining Bitcoin Adoption and Encouraging Growth

A significant hurdle for developers within the Bitcoin ecosystem is the stagnation in attracting new users and capital. Despite the excitement around Ordinals, the rise in active addresses has been minimal, with only existing participants engaging in various projects. A primary reason for this stagnation lies in Bitcoin's complexity. Initiating a Bitcoin wallet also involves downloading it, and understanding the inscribing process can be quite daunting, as users must invest at least two blocks of time inscribing, alongside three blocks for confirmation - which can be cumbersome.

(Daily Active Bitcoin Address: Glassnode)

Merlin Chain aims to address this challenge. Currently, Merlin Chain has established connections with 40 Ethereum chains, allowing users unfamiliar with Bitcoin to interact via familiar wallets like MetaMask, using known assets like stablecoins or $ETH without needing to grasp the underlying Bitcoin mechanics, or even what BRC-20 and Atomicals entail, letting them experience Bitcoin in its native form through a familiar lens.

To facilitate this, Merlin Chain plans to introduce the inaugural multi-chain inscription DApp, enabling users to inscribe assets on multiple layers, including Bitcoin L1, within just one block's waiting period. Additionally, a launchpad will be available on Merlin Chain to allow every inscription initiated to be appraised at 100,000 FDV, simplifying the purchase of assets such as BRC-20, BRC-420, Atomicals, and Runes at very accessible prices. Moreover, reinforcing its dedication to decentralization, Merlin Chain intends to distribute the majority of its governance tokens to the wider community.

Stay tuned for the upcoming mainnet launch – Merlin Chain is set to lead the way into Bitcoin's future.

About Merlin Chain

Merlin Chain is an innovative Bitcoin Layer2 solution that seamlessly integrates ZK-Rollup networks, decentralized oracle mechanisms, and on-chain Bitcoin fraud proof systems. With a commitment to empowering Bitcoin’s native assets, protocols, and products on Layer1 through its advanced Layer2 network, Merlin Chain aims to 'Make Bitcoin Fun Again.' It is a product line from Bitmap Tech, a respected OG team boasting a total market cap surpassing $500 million. The BRC-420 'Blue Box' collection under Bitmap Tech is currently one of the most sought-after assets within the Ordinals framework.

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

Contact

Jeff
Merlin Chain