Disclosure: The opinions and opinions expressed here belong to the authors solely and do not represent the views or opinions of the crypto.news editorial.
2025 is the year when Bitcoin (BTC) reaches its turning point. Its role in decentralized finance, which was historically considered a “valuable store”, has been minimal, earning just nearly 0.3% of its market capitalization compared to the dominant position of Ethereum (ETH). Ethereum's programmership has become Defi's natural home, but Bitcoin's $2 trillion market capitalization and unparalleled security offer ripe, undeveloped opportunities for investment and success.
Important advances, including BITVM, are reconstructing this narrative by the proposed system that allows complex calculations and smart contracts to be performed on the Bitcoin blockchain, as well as Bitcoin staking protocols like Babylon. These innovations can unlock Bitcoin's dormant capital and create financial solutions that will attract both retail and institutional investors. With forecasts that flow into Bitcoin's debt projects and project a $47 billion Bitcoin Layer-2 ecosystem, 2025 is poised to be the year in which Bitcoin claims its place in Defrespace.
New opportunities for Bitcoin
Ethereum currently controls Defi due to its smart contract capabilities and dynamic ecosystem, capturing more than half of its cryptographically locked total value. By comparison, Bitcoin was limited in its role in Defi, as it was constrained by a lack of programmerism and slow block times.
However, recent advances aim to change that, with developers placing Bitcoin as more than assets. Combining Bitcoin liquidity with Ethereum's programmerity could create a hybrid debt model that combines Bitcoin's security and dormant capital with Ethereum's thriving ecosystem and driving innovation. By leveraging proposals such as BITVM and untrust bridges, hybrid blockchains can expand Defi's reach, unlock new use cases, and promote wider adoption among retail and institutional users as a whole.
Bringing scalability to Bitcoin
The developers have explored several approaches to bringing programmatic and definitional features to Bitcoin, as each addressed a specific challenge. Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) allows for interaction with Ethereum's Defi Ecosystem, but is largely centralized. To convert Bitcoin to WBTC or exchange WBTC for Bitcoin, users must go through an approved seller and comply with anti-money laundering regulations with their customers. Users must also trust custodians to manage and protect their Bitcoin reserves. This is where BITVM comes in to offer breakthroughs, allowing for a true Bitcoin rollup and the largest trusted Bitcoin bridge. BITVM introduces the ability to run programs on Bitcoin without requiring protocol changes
In reality, this means that BITVM will allow Bitcoin to support complex decentralized applications and financial operations such as lending and token swaps. By bridging BTC to Bitcoin-placed Layer-2 in a trusted, minimalized way, it can dramatically increase its usefulness while maintaining the core principles of security and decentralization.
BITVM positions Bitcoin more than a valuable store. It paves the way Bitcoin plays a central role in defi, combining utility and trust to meet the evolving demands of a financial landscape.
Retail and institutional opportunities
Before 2025, Bitcoin's role in Defi was slowly gaining traction, with platforms like Babylon already fostering billions of deposits. A large pool of Bitcoin holders are keen to make their assets work and earn returns through BTC staking. Until now, limited technology and infrastructure have been a significant barrier, along with the lack of the biggest solutions to trust. However, this surge in activity underscores the growing confidence among investors in the possibility of Bitcoin unlocking new financial opportunities in 2025.
Bitcoin's unparalleled $2 trillion market capitalization, robust security and global trust mean it's uniquely set to close the gap between retail and institutional investors who previously shunned Defi due to regulatory and risk concerns. Its scale and reputation provide the basis for mainstream adoption of defi.
Bitcoin Defi is currently in operation. With major innovation and growing TVL, it can compete and possibly outweigh Ethereum in defi space. As we go further into 2025, the story is changing. As the ecosystem continues to evolve, those who are aware of the potential unlocked Bitcoin are now poised to make a profit.
