274: Scaling Bitcoin DeFi — Charlie on Bitlayer, BTR launch & unlocking $1T in liquidity

In this episode, Charlie, co-founder of Bitlayer, shares how they are building a Bitcoin rollup and trust-minimized BVM bridge to unlock BTC liquidity for DeFi while maintaining Bitcoin-level security. Backed by Franklin Templeton and top mining pools like F2Pool, Bitlayer is enabling yield-bearing BTC (YBTC), partnerships with Sui and Solana, and preparing for the launch of its BTR governance token. If you’re curious about Bitcoin’s future beyond payments — from miner incentives to cross-chain DeFi — this episode is for you. Key Timestamps [00:00:00] Introduction: Sam introduces Charlie and Bitlayer’s mission. [00:01:00] Charlie’s Web3 story: From early Bitcoin and Ethereum to Polygon and Polkadot. [00:03:30] Why Bitcoin DeFi: Recognizing the need for scaling and security. [00:05:00] Bitlayer’s mission: Building a BVM rollup and bridge for DeFi on Bitcoin. [00:07:00] Achieving Bitcoin DeFi: Unlocking BTC liquidity via a trust-minimized bridge. [00:09:00] Bridging innovation: How BVM improves on multisig and wrapped BTC. [00:11:00] Bitlayer vs sidechains: Why Bitcoin rollups are different. [00:14:00] Team strength: Engineering talent from Polygon, Celestia, and Alibaba. [00:15:00] Metrics: TVL milestones, daily transactions, and wallet growth. [00:18:00] Developer & user growth: Strategies to onboard devs and create retention. [00:20:00] Branding: F1-style “Bitcoin engine” culture. [00:21:00] Decentralization focus: Ensuring Bitcoin-level security. [00:23:00] Partnerships: Collaborations with Sui and upcoming Solana integrations. [00:25:00] Future vision: Bitcoin DeFi in 2 years — retail + institutional products. [00:26:30] Institutional adoption: Working with ETF issuers like Franklin Templeton. [00:28:00] The BTR token: Governance launch and upcoming campaigns. [00:30:00] Closing thoughts: Miner incentives and the next decade of Bitcoin utility. Connect https://www.bitlayer.org/ https://x.com/BitlayerLabs https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlieyechuanhu/ https://x.com/CharlieHusats Disclaimer Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. Finally, it would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/