TL;DR
The biggest Bitcoin event of the year is in just a few days. While there’s still a lot of groundwork that needs to be done in the Bitcoin Layer2 sector. It feels right to remain in this sector and add three more Bitcoin Layer2 Gems to your watchlist. After spending significant time digging through the Bitcoin L2 ecosystem. I’ve concluded that BRC-20 is the place to be if you have any interest in this new L2 environment. With more development happening on BRC-20 than with Runes or ARC-20 tokens. This report will be a continuation of last month’s Top 5 BRC20 Altcoin Gems.
As a quick refresher into the Bitcoin Layer2 world, there are four variants of protocols that have been launched since the beginning of 2023.
The first was Ordinals, giving users the ability to inscribe individual Satoshi’s with images, videos, and even smart contracts.
Shortly after their launch, the BRC-20 standard was created. As the name suggests, these are in direct alignment with the way ERC-20 tokens operate, allowing for fungible tokens to be issued on the Bitcoin network.
This, however, caused issues with transaction outputs as many BRC-20 tokens were seen as nothing more than network spam. Bringing the introduction of Runes, an advanced version of BRC-20 that utilizes the network more efficiently to lower bloating caused by BRC-20 transfers.
Then we got hit with the most recent Layer2 tech, Atomicals (ARC-20). Effectively going back to the drawing board, ARC-20 tokens are meant to be an upgrade over the BRC-20 standard, allowing for the use of fungible and non-fungible tokens on the Bitcoin network.
Unfortunately, the only one that’s proved worthy of monetary energy has been the BRC-20s.
Merlin Chain
- Ticker: MERL
- Price: $0.25
- Token Supply: 2.1 Billion
- Circulating Supply: 360 Million
- Market Cap: $92 Million
The first project of today’s discussion is Merlin Chain.
Combining zk-rollups and decentralized oracles, Merlin launched in January to enhance the use of Bitcoin in a fun and engaging way.
As a standalone network, users can send their existing Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens to Merlin Chain using their native bridge. Those who do can then stake these assets on Merlin Chain to earn MERL Tokens.
So far more than 90 projects have collaborated with Merlin to enable the use of their products on the network. This includes Launchpads, NFTs, Games, Infrastructure, and Decentralized Finance tools.
The reason for Merlin’s popularity is that it offers the lowest bridging fees of any Bitcoin L2 product. Making it accessible and easy for anyone to participate in its ecosystem and get a taste of what Merlin has to offer.
The project has also gained a tremendous amount of institutional interest as one of the premier Layer2 projects on Bitcoin. Thanks to Particle Networks Smart Wallet technology you can utilize Merlin with your existing wallet or obfuscate your holdings using the zero-knowledge standard.
As one of the only fair-launch projects in the Bitcoin L2 ecosystem, Merlin is not interested in burning through its community for the sake of a quick buck. Instead, its focus is on aligning with the values of the Bitcoin community to grow its network.
This can be seen in the issuing of MERL tokens as only 22% of the total supply will be issued to the Team, Investors, and…
Jesse is a passionate seeker of truth who enjoys educating others about Bitcoin.
As a free thinker and 2nd amendment advocate, Jesse believes each individual has the right to monetary freedom.
“The swarm is headed towards us” -Satoshi Nakamoto
