Charles Hoskinson: It’s now a goal of mine to see an ecosystem of hybrid apps powered by DeFi-enabled Bitcoin

Charles Hoskinson, the CEO and founder of Cardano, said his mission was to see an ecosystem of hybrid apps powered by DeFi-enabled Bitcoin. He added that he liked the idea of Bitcoin finally having a DeFi layer and returning to innovation prominence, with Cardano playing a key role in the process.

Hoskinson envisioned a scenario where users would only need to spend Bitcoin to achieve the goal, and he believes Cardano would be able to make it happen with babel fees. The idea was to create an ecosystem where users could interact with dApps by spending Bitcoin directly. He noted that this could make things easier for users while adding new features to Bitcoin’s existing setup. 

The Cardano-Bitcoin integration could open new doors for Bitcoin in the DeFi sector

Just a brief reminder, having been around for a very long time and having read a lot of the early source code for Bitcoin, it's easy for me to get back into the mindset of Bitcoin's design and purpose.

It's like a childhood friend that I lost touch with and re-discovered. I…

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) November 26, 2024

Hoskinson stated that the Cardano-powered DeFi on Bitcoin integration through the BitcoinOS grail bridge could help Cardano tap into Bitcoin’s liquidity and ‘plug-in’ to Bitcoin as application layers. As Bitcoin’s DeFi ecosystem continued to mature, Hoskinson believed that the Cardano-Bitcoin bridge would be the first step to true Bitcoin DeFi applications. 

He clarified that the Cardano network would eventually host Bitcoin-secured DeFi apps. Hoskinson added that babel fees would enable Bitcoin developers to create hybrid apps in Aiken and pay transaction fees in BTC. However, Hoskinson explained in an X post that has since been deleted that developers needed to be trained in Cardano’s Aiken programming language to create the hybrid apps.

“It’s now a goal of mine to see an ecosystem of hybrid apps powered by DeFi enabled Bitcoin. This vision should only require the user to spend bitcoin to make it happen. Thanks to babel fees, Cardano can make this happen.”

-Charles Hoskinson 

Hoskinson claimed this would be an enormous amount of work with ‘very heavy lifting’ since there were wallet integrations and so many other things that needed to happen. He, however, pointed out that it would all be worth it because Bitcoin was a trillion-dollar asset. 

Bitcoin’s core design elements present technical and regulatory limitations regarding DeFi

According to an extensive Footprint analytics report, implementing DeFi on Bitcoin presented several technical challenges, including scalability and interoperability. Bitcoin’s scalability was a primary concern since its base layer was limited in transaction throughput due to its block time constraints and block size, as per the report. Bitcoin’s layer 2 and sidechain ecosystems were still in their early stages, limiting the range of DeFi apps that could be supported effectively. 

Interoperability was also of significant concern, as per the report, since bridging Bitcoin with other blockchains without compromising decentralization or security was a complex procedure that required innovation. 

Regulatory scrutiny was expected to increase as Bitcoin DeFi continued to grow. The Footprint analytics report revealed that Bitcoin’s decentralized and ‘pseudonymous’ nature posed challenges for compliance. Notably, this compliance issue could potentially slow down the development and adoption of DeFi on Bitcoin. 

The analytics firm emphasized that navigating these regulatory landscapes would be crucial for the sustainable growth of Bitcoin DeFi. As per the report, there were significant opportunities for technological advancements that could bolster Bitcoin DeFi, such as the enhancement of layer 2 solutions.

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