Bitcoin’s DeFi Experiment Hits Turbulence in 2025—Gains Traction Despite Purists’ Outrage

Decentralized finance on Bitcoin—once dismissed as impossible—now sees both explosive growth and existential growing pains. Layer 2s process $12B in swaps monthly, while core developers rage against ’sacrilegious’ smart contracts.

Adoption surges as institutions repurpose cold storage for yield farming. ’We’re monetizing dust,’ quips a hedge fund VP—before his Trezor crashes mid-trade.

The ultimate irony? Bitcoin DeFi’s TVL now rivals Solana’s. The OG chain might just eat crypto’s lunch—after years of refusing to join the table.

In Brief

• Rootstock merged mining participation reaches an all-time high of 81% in Q1 2025.
• Hash rate exceeds 740 exahashes per second, surpassing Bitcoin network levels in October 2024.
• TVL drops by 20% to settle at 179.9 million dollars.
• Active addresses decrease by 26.5% while daily transactions slightly increase.

Bitcoin DeFi Shows Opposite Signals in 2025

Rootstock, the leading smart contracts platform on Bitcoin, hit a major milestone in the first quarter with the integration of mining giants Foundry and SpiderPool. This strategic alliance propelled merged mining participation to a historic level of 81%, compared to 56.4% in Q4 2024, according to the “State of Rootstock” report published by Messari.

This development marks the network’s entry into its “maturity phase” of mining growth. The hash power now reaches over 740 exahashes per second, even surpassing the rate recorded by the main bitcoin network last October.

The spectacular improvement in security comes with a 60% reduction in transaction fees, making the platform more competitive against other LAYER 2 solutions.

“As BTCFi continues to grow, Rootstock is well positioned for broader adoption,” asserts Andrew Yang, an analyst at Messari, citing technical improvements and incentive programs as key factors.

Cooling of DeFi Activity Despite Technical Advances

Despite these technical advances, Rootstock’s financial ecosystem is going through a challenging period. Bitcoin-denominated TVL dropped by 7.2%, while the USD-denominated TVL plummeted 20% to reach 179.9 million dollars.

This decline aligns with a broader trend, as Ethereum-based DeFi also suffered a 27% drop in the first quarter. Macroeconomic uncertainty and the 1.4 billion dollar Bybit hack heavily impacted the sector, according to DappRadar.

User activity also shows signs of slowing: active addresses dropped by 26.5% and new addresses by 54.7%. The only positive point: daily transactions slightly increased by 4.3%, reaching an average of 11,524 per day.

The stablecoin market dynamics have also evolved, with USDT remaining dominant despite a reduced market share of 27.5%, down from 41.3% the previous quarter. Notably, no stablecoin now exceeds 30% market share on Rootstock.

Despite these challenges, Rootstock is continuing its technological development with the Lovell 7.0.0 upgrade and new integrations with LayerZero and Meson Finance. These advancements come as bitcoin continues its conquest of financial markets, recently surpassing Amazon to become the fifth most valued asset in the world with a market capitalization exceeding 2,030 billion dollars.

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