Ankr, a provider of decentralized blockchain infrastructure, has announced that it will introduce Bitcoin (BTC) liquid staking tokens to the AI-focused blockchain Talus starting from May 1. Ankr stated that Bitcoin is not only the oldest blockchain but also has the highest liquidity. However, this liquidity has traditionally been confined to the Bitcoin L1. With Ankr’s liquid staking service, Bitcoin can now be staked through various Bitcoin restaking protocols. This allows users on the Bitcoin network to earn additional staking rewards while providing other ecosystems with access to Bitcoin liquidity.
To participate in Bitcoin decentralized finance (DeFi), users delegate their BTC to an operator in a restaking protocol. This BTC is then used as collateral for Ankr to create BTC liquid staking tokens (LSTs). In the case of Talus, the Bitcoin LSTs can be used to power the blockchain’s smart agents or AI assistants and their applications, such as booking travel, making online purchases, and managing portfolios.
Talus’ smart agents are capable of bundling multilayer atomic swaps and executing them in a single transaction to provide security against exploits like flash loan attacks. Talus commented that Ankr’s BTC liquid staking unlocks a significant amount of liquidity, ensuring that smart agents on Talus can seamlessly execute simultaneous DeFi transactions like atomic swaps.
This move follows Ankr’s introduction of its first Bitcoin liquid staking product in early March in collaboration with the Babylon protocol. The project allows users to earn yields from their idle bitcoins securely by pledging their Bitcoin as collateral to mint LSTs, which can then be used to validate transactions on proof-of-stake blockchains. The yields earned from the staked LSTs are returned to users’ locked Bitcoin. The Babylon protocol is currently in its testnet phase, with a mainnet launch planned for later this year.
Despite the ongoing market correction, the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem has thrived over the past year, with the introduction of new protocols such as Ordinals, Inscriptions, Atomicals, and Runes. One such project, the omnichain yield-generating protocol SolvBTC, has accumulated a total value locked of $700 million from its yield-bearing Bitcoin minted on platforms like Arbitrum, Merlin, and BNB Smart Chain. SolvBTC stated that the protocol has recently surpassed 10,000 BTC staked and attracted over 92,000 participants shortly after its launch earlier this month.
Related: Bitcoin ecosystem rejuvenated by memecoins and new protocols.