{"id":128837,"date":"2025-05-08T13:19:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T13:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=128837"},"modified":"2025-05-08T13:19:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T13:19:43","slug":"bitcoin-defi-sees-surge-in-mining-participation-despite-drop-in-tvl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=128837","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin DeFi sees surge in mining participation despite drop in TVL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsSmart contract platform Rootstock, the home of decentralized finance (DeFi) on Bitcoin, saw a sharp increase in network security and mining engagement in the first quarter of 2025, even as activity cooled.<br \/>\nMerged mining participation surged to an all-time high of 81%, up from 56.4% in Q4 2024, driven by the integration of major mining pools Foundry and SpiderPool, according to Messari\u2019s first \u201cState of Rootstock\u201d report for 2025, shared with Cointelegraph.<br \/>\nThe heightened miner interest boosted Rootstock\u2019s hash power to over 740 exahashes per second, surpassing the total Bitcoin network hashrate recorded in October 2024. As a result, the network is now considered to be in a \u201cmature phase\u201d of merged mining growth.<br \/>\nThe increased security coincided with a 60% reduction in transaction fees, improving user experience and positioning Rootstock more competitively within the Bitcoin layer-2 ecosystem.<br \/>\n\u201cAs BTCFi continues to grow, Rootstock is well-positioned for broader adoption through core upgrades like a 60% reduction in transaction fees, alongside sustained investment in builder education and incentive programs,\u201d Messari analyst Andrew Yang said.<br \/>\nRootstock overview for Q1 2025. Source: MessariRelated: Is this the end of Bitcoin DeFi?<br \/>\nRootstock\u2019s DeFi TVL drops<br \/>\nDespite the mining milestone, Rootstock\u2019s DeFi ecosystem experienced a decline in total value locked (TVL) during Q1 2025, with Bitcoin (BTC)-denominated TVL dropping 7.2% and US dollar-denominated TVL falling by 20% quarter-over-quarter to $179.9 million.<br \/>\nAlthough TVL briefly peaked at $244.6 million in January during a Bitcoin price rally, it trended downward from March, reflecting broader market cooling.<br \/>\nFor perspective, Ethereum-based DeFi TVL also saw a sharp 27% decline in Q1, hit hard by macro uncertainty and the $1.4 billion Bybit exploit, according to a report by DappRadar.<br \/>\nThe stablecoin market on Rootstock also underwent notable changes. USDt (USDT) remained the leading stablecoin by value, holding $3.8 million and a 27.5% market share. However, its dominance fell significantly from 41.3% in Q4 2024.<br \/>\nBy the end of Q1, no single stablecoin commanded over 30% of Rootstock\u2019s stablecoin market.<br \/>\nActive addresses dropped by 26.5%, and new addresses plunged by 54.7%, although daily transactions rose slightly by 4.3%, reaching an average of 11,524 per day.<br \/>\nActive addresses drop on Rootstock. Source: MessariRelated: Bitcoin yield demand booming as institutions seek liquidity \u2014 Solv CEO<br \/>\nRootstock sees progress on development front<br \/>\nOn the development front, the platform activated its Lovell 7.0.0 upgrade, enhancing Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility and smart contract performance.<br \/>\nRootstock also expanded its ecosystem through integrations with LayerZero and Meson Finance and launched developer-focused initiatives, including a new hackathon and enhancements to its governance platform, RootstockCollective.<br \/>\nOn May 1, Alexei Zamyatin, the co-founder of the Bitcoin layer 2 Build on Bitcoin,\u00a0said that the first DeFi company to launch a user-friendly suite of products on Bitcoin would \u201cwin the entire market\u201d of the blockchain\u2019s 300 million users.<br \/>\nMagazine:\u00a0ZK-proofs unlock trillions in Bitcoin for DeFi \u2014 BitcoinOS and Starknet<a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/rootstock-bitcoin-defi-mining-tvl-drop-q1-2025?utm_source=rss_feed&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"feedzy-rss-link-icon\" rel=\"noopener\">Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsSmart contract platform Rootstock, the home of decentralized finance (DeFi) on Bitcoin, saw a sharp increase in network security and mining engagement in the first quarter of 2025,&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128837"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128837\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}