Charles Hoskinson has pointed to Bitcoin DeFi (BTCFi) as a key growth area where Cardano can gain an early lead. He said no project currently dominates the competition and argued Cardano already has the right technology and a head start. The focus in BTCFi is bringing Bitcoin liquidity into DeFi while reducing reliance on centralised custodians and weak bridge designs. He also cited Cardano’s Midnight partner chain and recent atomic swap progress.

Starknet has formally launched strkBTC, a Bitcoin-based asset designed to support private balances and confidential transfers. It is built to provide privacy features while maintaining compatibility with decentralised finance applications. The asset is a Bitcoin-wrapped token operated on Starknet rather than on Bitcoin’s base layer. Starknet said it uses zero-knowledge cryptography to protect balances and transaction history while still enabling responses to audits, tax reporting and legal requirements.