Speaking at Money 20/20 in Amsterdam, Ricardo Castro of Rootstock Labs highlighted the focus of the Bitcoin layer-2 protocol on providing global acess to decentralized finance (DeFi), particularly in emerging markets. 

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are by far the two largest decentralized networks, each with unique strengths. BTC is rewnowned for its robust security standards, while Ethereum’s blockchain emphasizes functionality and utility through smart contracts. 

For years, developers have tried to bridge the two concepts and create a network that can bootstrap decentralized finance solutions atop BTC’s blockchain. Rootstock Labs says it has achieved this, giving Latin American users and crypto participants at large a secure BTC-backed smart contract platform.

According to Castro, the protocol boasts over 2,000 BTC, valued at over $141 million, backing DeFi development and liquidity for decentralized applications (dapps) on the layer-2 side chain. The chain uses a native token called RBTC, pegged one-to-one with Bitcoin for transaction validation.

DefiLlama data also confirmed more than $203 million in total value locked on Rootstock, including over $15 million in stablecoins. Castro told attendees that the company will continue to support innovation around Bitcoin smart contact capabilities to bridge the gap between BTC and Ethereum’s offerings. 

The startup has a multi-million pool prize for developers and already issued over 100 grants in the past 12 months, per the exec.