Luke Xie, co-founder and CEO of Satlayer, emphasizes the importance of highlighting bitcoin’s other use cases, particularly with the introduction of Taproot.
The ETF and Trump Effect on Bitcoin
The increased public interest in bitcoin, sparked by rumors in Q3 2023 that investment giant Blackrock contemplated launching a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), persisted throughout 2024. During this time, bitcoin’s performance versus other assets in U.S. dollars was phenomenal, further fueling interest. Although founded on groundbreaking software, bitcoin’s growing popularity seemingly revolves around its U.S. dollar price rather than the underlying technology’s capabilities.
The emergence of bitcoin and cryptocurrency as a key issue in U.S. elections and President Donald Trump’s decision to embrace crypto highlight how bitcoin’s popularity is increasingly disconnected from the technology behind it. As the trend is expected to continue in 2025, with the “pro-crypto” Trump administration making good on promises to advance the digital asset industry’s causes, some Bitcoin blockchain proponents stress the importance of highlighting the tech’s other use cases.
One of these proponents, Luke Xie, co-founder and CEO of Satlayer, highlights the introduction of Taproot as a development that should sustain interest in both the native cryptocurrency and the underlying technology. According to Xie, an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Taproot has not only enabled the trade of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and inscriptions but has also made it possible to create solutions that further push the boundaries of what is possible.
“For example, solutions such as Babylon allow BTC holders to participate in staking to secure other networks and earn rewards. This effectively extends Bitcoin’s utility without sacrificing its fundamental PoW consensus security model,” Xie explained.
Bitcoin Network Security Extended Through Restaking
He also revealed that his platform subsequently built on this to enable a phenomenon known as Bitcoin restaking. Besides Taproot and restaking, the Satlayer CEO also pointed to layer-2 protocols designed to overcome Bitcoin’s limitations, creating a Bitcoin-centric decentralized finance (BTCFi) ecosystem.
In written answers to questions from Bitcoin.com News, Xie discussed how Bitcoin restaking has extended the blockchain’s security “to power richer functionality.” Simplifying what Bitcoin restaking effectively done, Xie said: “Think of it as storing gold in a vault (Bitcoin’s main chain) and receiving a certificate (wrapped BTC) to use in broader markets.”
For users, Bitcoin restaking means earning yields from decentralized applications, liquidity pools, and defi products while keeping their principal BTC secure.
“Restaking transforms BTC into a dynamic, yield-generating asset that will consistently earn its holders a return. In the process, it bootstraps an array of new networks and protocols,” Xie adds.
Bitcoin restaking also offers a less capital-intensive way to secure new blockchain networks. Instead of relying on unproven tokens and wealthy investors, restaking allows developers to focus on building new applications and use cases, knowing that the restaking mechanism will provide the necessary security and liquidity for growth.
Regarding Satlayer’s role in helping developers build Bitcoin Validated Services (BVS), Xie revealed that his platform has introduced Bitcoin Restaking Tokens (LRTs) to mirror the staked BTC. He said the LRTs could be traded, deployed in defi, or restaked to secure new protocols. This, he said, gives BTC “a utility layer comparable to staked ETH in the Ethereum ecosystem.”
Xie meanwhile argues that bringing the Ethereum restaking concept to Bitcoin, which boasts a far larger market capitalization and liquidity, will allow a new universe of BTC-centric defi, featuring stablecoins, lending protocols, and even synthetic assets, to thrive.
In other words, the developments and innovations prove that Bitcoin is not just about the “number go up hopium.” Instead, the top digital asset can become the “bedrock for a new class of applications, all while preserving the qualities that made it the king of crypto in the first place,” Xie said.
