For perhaps the first time, Bitcoin is starting to be broadly viewed as programmable infrastructure. Enabled by innovations like BitVM2 and potential opcode tweaks, developers are now very seriously building the foundations of a new execution layer - one that retains the consensus integrity of Bitcoin while expanding its economic reach.
The Bitcoin ecosystem is no longer content with the narrative of “digital gold” - the community is increasingly recognizing its potential as the backbone of the monetary economy. Bitcoin is now being positioned as the settlement layer for a new category of trust-minimized, self-custodial applications - what @citrea_xyz calls "₿apps".
These Bitcoin applications challenge the conventional dichotomy between security and functionality. Unlike wrapped assets or custodial bridges, these new systems aim to maintain Bitcoin’s trust model while enabling scalable P2P payments, native programmability, yield generation, and cross-chain liquidity - all without compromising Bitcoin consensus.
BitVM2 is no longer a nice theory. It's the anchor for a broader movement to build Bitcoin-native rollups with real programmability, and frameworks for sustainable Bitcoin-native yield - economic structures that can support apps, treasuries, and even sovereign development models - are also being explored.
This dual pursuit of verifiable execution and sustainable economic models enables Bitcoin to absorb use cases previously reserved for smart contract L1s, but without adopting their security tradeoffs. The question is no longer whether Bitcoin can scale computation - but whether it can scale the entire financial economy.
The push for a more functional Bitcoin stack is being driven by a new wave of infrastructure builders. @GOATRollup is prototyping a BitVM2-based rollup with verifiable compute and sustainable revenue paths.
@StarkWareLtd is exploring the potential to settle @Starknet on Bitcoin, including trustless L1 integration via OP_CAT. @ProjectZKM is optimizing its tech stack to support trust-minimized interoperability - with Bitcoin as a target chain. @TheTNetwork is bringing native access control to Bitcoin use cases. @fiamma_labs is building next-generation UX for sovereign apps, while @stacks has been exploring Bitcoin scaling infrastructure for more than half a decade.
Each of these teams is rethinking core assumptions: What does scalability mean in the context of Bitcoin? Can you generate yield without compromising custody, and in a manner that's sustainable? Can you upgrade functionality without hard forks?
Bitcoin’s transition from a store-of-value to a programmable, yield-generating base layer has profound implications. Whether it's for sovereign finance, decentralized treasuries, or a new generation of user-owned protocols, Bitcoin is increasingly being treated not just as an asset - but rather as an operating system.
The Bitcoin Economy Conference - hosted by @HouseofZK on May 28th in Las Vegas - dives deep into these questions. From technical overviews of BitVM2 and zk-rollups to panels, interviews and keynotes exploring economic models for native yield, the event will explore the real implications of Bitcoin’s new execution layer. It’s a forum not just for builders, but for economists, policymakers, and investors navigating the next evolution of crypto’s base layer.
→ Learn more and register: https://lu.ma/bitcoineconomy
