Bitlayer has taken a significant step towards mainstream adoption of Bitcoin-native decentralized finance (DeFi) by partnering with three leading Bitcoin mining pools. The company’s latest move, announced on May 27th through their official X account, sees Bitlayer join forces with Antpool, F2Pool, and SpiderPool, representing nearly 40% of the Bitcoin network’s hashrate. This partnership will drive the transition of BitVM from concept to real-world infrastructure. By allowing non-standard transactions, critical to BitVM’s challenge-response design, it unlocks wider utility for the platform. The integration enables users to effortlessly transfer Bitcoin into smart contract platforms without relying on traditional intermediaries through the BitVM Bridge. This opens doors to innovative applications like lending, yield farming, and multi-chain staking, utilizing Peg-BTC, a Bitcoin-backed token minted via the BitVM Bridge. Bitlayer’s innovative approach enhances Bitcoin’s capabilities while maintaining its core protocol and security. This latest collaboration follows Bitlayer’s recent integrations with networks like Sui (SUI), Arbitrum (ARB), Base, and Starknet (STRK). These integrations empower BTC to power applications such as lending, staking, and yield farming through Peg-BTC. As of April 2024, the platform boasts a total value locked of $413 million according to DefiLlama data. Bitlayer has raised over $20 million in funding, including a Series A round led by Franklin Templeton and a follow-up led by Polychain Capital, which will support continued growth. The latest partnership signifies a crucial step towards realizing Bitlayer’s vision of connecting Bitcoin to advanced financial systems.