Bringing The EVM To Bitcoin With Willem Schroe

Welcome to The Gwart Show! Today, Willem from Botanix Labs joins us to discuss their pioneering "spider chain" approach for Bitcoin's second layer. Unlike traditional rollups, Botanix creates a decentralized network of multi-sig validators to bring EVM capabilities to Bitcoin while maintaining censorship resistance. Willem explains why decentralization matters for DeFi applications, how their validator system works with Bitcoin staking, and why they've chosen a different path than rollups. With mainnet launch planned for Q2, Botanix aims to enable Bitcoin holders to use their BTC in familiar DeFi applications without sacrificing security. Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com Notes: - Spider chains prioritize decentralization over speed - Botanix launching mainnet in Q2 2025 - Initial 15 validators expanding to hundreds - Block time is 5 seconds with ~$0.01 fees - Uses Bitcoin as gas fee, no separate token - Validators will stake 3-5 BTC as bond Timestamps: 00:00 Start 00:21 Intro 01:04 Spiderchain 02:20 Proof of stake on layer 2 06:14 Risk vs reward 08:02 Spiderchain vs rollup 14:55 BitVM 16:42 ZK tech 20:34 Data availability w/ Spierchains 21:25 Data on Bitcoin chain 22:13 Alt DA 24:23 Updates on Botanix 26:47 Wen token? 28:00 Primary users? 30:27 Block interval 30:50 Decentralization design limits 32:55 Fees 33:43 Porting ETH apps to Botanix 34:52 Bitcoin staking 36:34 EVM wallet compatibility 37:28 Place in L2 ecosystem 39:35 Functional BitVM rollup? 40:32 Changes to BTC 41:16 L2 protocol consensus? 42:17 Social consensus in BTC 45:49 Ordinals & Runes 👋 The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Ellipsis Labs is building Atlas, the blockchain purpose-built for verifiable finance. You may know of Ellipsis Labs by their first product Phoenix, a fully on-chain orderbook DEX that’s done over 50 billion dollars in unincentivized volume. They are one of the strongest teams I know in crypto. If you’re interested in working for a mission-driven company, Ellipsis Labs is hiring engineers passionate about crypto and finance to work on Atlas. You can learn more and apply on Ellipsis Labs’ Twitter “at Ellipsis_Labs”. Don’t forget to check out Atlas too, @atlasxyz on Twitter. Enjoy the show? Check out our website and newsletter by clicking here. Questions or want to sponsor? [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices