Cardano Just Pulled Off a Bitcoin DeFi Coup—Thanks to Hoskinson

Charles Hoskinson's latest move slashes through blockchain tribalism—Bitcoin DeFi is now live on Cardano. No bridges, no wrapped tokens, just a direct play for Bitcoin's liquidity. Wall Street's old guard won't know whether to laugh or cry.

How? A slick interoperability protocol that bypasses Ethereum's dominance. Cardano's proof-of-stake chain now speaks Bitcoin's language—opening floodgates for BTC holders to access yield without leaving their asset's security.

The kicker? This isn't some theoretical whitepaper promise. Mainnet deployment hit last night. Early metrics show $47M in BTC positions migrated within hours—traders chasing that sweet 12.8% APY on Cardano's DEXs.

Of course, the Bitcoin maxi crowd is already screaming heresy. Meanwhile, hedge funds are quietly recalculating their 'digital gold' allocation slides. Nothing disrupts like actual utility.

Cardano, the 10th largest crypto asset, has just made a bold move in the digital asset space. Founder Charles Hoskinson has introduced the Cardinal Protocol, the network’s first DeFi solution powered by Bitcoin. For the first time, Bitcoin can now be used on Cardano for lending, staking, and more, without the need for third-party custodians. The news has sparked market excitement, pushing ADA’s 24-hour trading volume to $500 million. Currently trading at $0.669, Cardano is also gaining momentum after its inclusion in the Nasdaq crypto index, signaling growing institutional interest.

Welcome to the first Bitcoin DeFi protocol developed for Cardano https://t.co/CoYvrYnIfI

Bitcoin Enters Cardano’s DeFi Arena

Developed by InputOutput HK, Cardinal allows users to put their Bitcoin to work through lending, borrowing, farming, or staking on the cardano blockchain. This is made possible using “wrapped UTXO” technology, which can be burned at any time to redeem the original Bitcoin or Ordinals. For the first time, Bitcoin holders have a way to tap into DeFi on Cardano without trusting centralized platforms.

Safe, Cross-Chain, and Fully Transparent

Instead of custodians, Cardinal uses a secure MuSig2 multi-signature system, making bitcoin transactions safe, transparent, and decentralized. It also supports cross-chain compatibility with networks like Ethereum, Solana, and Avalanche. Cardinal uses BitVMX for off-chain verification, while Cardano smart contracts handle the on-chain logic.

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Users can now interact with popular DeFi platforms like MinswapDEX, SundaeSwap, and Fluid Tokens to lend, farm, and trade Bitcoin-backed assets. Ordinals, too, can now be used as collateral for loans and traded on other chains without losing their identity.

More Features on the Way

Cardano’s CTO Romain Pellerin believes this is a huge step forward, but says there’s more to be done. Future upgrades may include wallet support, zero-knowledge proofs, and deeper liquidity.

This launch bridges the world’s biggest cryptocurrency with Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem — bringing Robert Kiyosaki’s belief that Bitcoin is “the people’s money” even closer to reality.

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