Edgar Fernandez

🚀 Very exited to share the completion of our first milestone of our project to strengthen citizen privacy by minimizing data collection using ZK. Thanks a lot @zkbankai for supporting the project! Here you can see a video demo: youtu.be/EK769fYddTc x.com/zk_bankai/stat…

@JacobPPhillips @babylonlabs_io @libredotorg

Frequently getting asked what's interesting in BTC DeFi. Here’s an ecosystem overview (40+ projects that come to mind), with the need-to-know’s on each project, so you can decide for yourself: —————————————— BTC DeFi: @babylonlabs_io — Bitcoin staking protocol. built directly into Bitcoin script. Think of it as Eigenlayer for BTC. $6bn in TVL. @satflow — Pro DEX on BTC L1. Tier-1 team of very principled builders working on tooling for BTC on-chain traders. Backed by Nascent & Variant. Led by @robertjfclarke. @satlayer — BTC-focused restaking platform (Babylon for double signing -> Satlayer for generalized slashing). Solid team & backers. @yalaorg — BTC-backed Stablecoin. Strong team pedigree (Alchemy Pay, Circle, Binance Labs, MakerDAO). @MezoNetwork — BTC L2 with a Bitcoin-backed Stablecoin, built by the Thesis team who shipped both Keep Network & tBTC. Tier-1 team, extremely principled, led by @mhluongo & @blockchain_bri @tBTC_project  — BTC Wrapper. The OG decentralized BTC built by Threshold Network. Live in prod for many years at this point. Operated by a DAO. ~$500mn TVL. @nomicbtc — BTC wrapper. Focused on Cosmos ecosystem. Team was working on this well before BTC narrative became hot (I believe since DeFi summer). @IgnitionFBTC — BTC Wrapper. Backed/operated by Mantle, Antalpha, and Cobo, so extremely well connected in the East. @ibtcnetwork (frm dlc.link) — BTC Wrapper. Uses discrete log contracts to allow for a BTC derivative that’s backed by BTC locked in your own wallet. Seems to be making significant strides in the Institutional space. @ZeusNetworkHQ — BTC Wrapper & Interop protocol. Focused on Solana ecosystem. @BimaBTC — BTC-backed Stablecoin, primarily backed by BTC LSTs. @avalonfinance_ — BTC-focused borrow/lend protocol. Forked from Aave. Has put up some impressive TVL numbers on Bitcoin L2s. @Pell_Network — BTC-focused restaking. @pStakeFinance — BTC LST. Cosmos-based liquid staking protocol that went all in on BTC. @SolvProtocol — BTC LST & Wrapper. Evolved from a DeFi NFT protocol into BTC DeFi. Partnered closely with Merlin in the early days. Recently launched token on Binance. @Pumpbtcxyz — BTC LST. Founder was heavily involved in the WBTC ecosystem. Solid liquidity to TVL ratio. @Bedrock_DeFi — BTC LST. Team has launched LSTs for multiple networks. @LorenzoProtocol — BTC LST & more. Led by @MattYe_MEP who is always cooking on new protocol ideas. @xverse — The most popular BTC-native browser extension. @Lombard_Finance — Leading BTC LST ($1.9bn TVL), only BTC LST that hasn’t depegged multiple times. Working with Aave, Etherfi, Fluid, Maple, Derive, Symbiotic, etc. Building towards trustless BTC. (Note: cofounded by author of this post) —————————————— BTC L2s & Infrastructure: @use_corn — ETH DeFi OG’s (BadgerDAO, Slingshot, Lido, etc.) creating a BTC L2 on Orbit Stack. Will have major ETH DeFi protocols & brand new DeFi experimentation with BTC (see @spadaboom's posts). Also has elements of a meme chain for BTC (think of this as Berachain x BTC DeFi). @AlpenLabs — One of the leading teams in the BitVM space. Cracked team + big backers. Everyone has their eye on this one. @citrea_xyz  — BitVM project, backed by Founder’s Fund. @fiamma_labs — BitVM project working very closely with Babylon. @build_on_bob — BitVM project with a chain that’s already live. Evolved from Interlay (BTC-focused Polkadot parachain), been building for years. Arguably leading BTC L2 by DeFi activity. @botanix — Likely to be a top BTC L2 once live. Based on a network of interwoven multisigs (“Spiderchain”). Big backers, very well regarded, & always coming up in the conversation. @hemi_xyz — Founded by @MatthewRoszak (founder of Bloq). Very strong technical team. Floating a bit under the radar pre-launch, but rumored to have big whales onboard. @PlasmaFDN — Backed by Bitfiniex & Tether founder. Focused specifically on USDT payments (on top of BTC). @Stacks — One of the OG Bitcoin L2s. Evolved from Blockstack that dates back to the 2017-18 cycle. Not EVM compatible. Largest native ecosystem of any BTC L2. @BitlayerLabs — Emerged as top BTC L2s early on with strong traction in Asia + big fundraise from Framework, Polychain, Franklin Templeton. Went live early 2024. Bitlayer has huge team that includes Ex-Huobi folks & a large research team building BitVM. @nubit_org — BTC L2 & DA layer. Very strong, research-heavy team, led by @captain8299. Building BitVM & Goldinals (erc20 equivalent for Bitcoin). @Coredao_Org — POS/POW hybrid consensus. One of the first BTC L2s with a live token (2023, $1bn+ FDV). @BSquaredNetwork — BTC L2 & DA layer. Likely to be an early Babylon BSN. @ArchNtwrk — Multicoin’s BTC L2 bet. Focused on enabling more expressivity without leaving BTC L1 (similar philosophy to Satflow). Programs can be invoked from BTC Mainnet UTXOs. @ChakraChain — Shared settlement layer for BTC. Founder previously was a researcher at MIT & built a Starknet L3. @BTC_OS — BTC L2 using ZK. Built by the team who built Sovryn (an early BTC DeFi app). @fractal_bitcoin — BTC L2 built on Bitcoin Core that support more expressivity and experimentation than BTC L1 (reminds me of Kusama for BTC). Built in close collaboration with UniSat. Led by @spenceryang @bouncebit — BTC L2 & DeFi infra. Built by team from Bounce Finance (auction protocol). Focused on CeDeFi, allowing for BTC DeFi products with Ceffu custody as a base. @TaprootWizards — I actually don’t fully know what these guys are cooking, but the team/community is stacked (@udiWertheimer) and they just announced a $30mn raise. NFT community -> top-tier project is something we’ve seen before. —————————————— Others (these aren’t all-in on BTC DeFi, but key players nonetheless): Etherfi — Built eBTC, the first restaked BTC, backed exclusively by LBTC. Anything etherfi touches fills with liquidity. StakeStone — Made a name for themselves with STONE (staked ETH) and were an early player in BTC DeFi with SBTC (wrapped BTC) & StoneBTC (LBTC backed). Everyone loves this team. StarkWare — Inventors of the STARK, ETH L2 pioneers, now very focused on building on BTC, with a focus on OP_CAT. Dfinity (Chain Key Cryptography) — This one is very under the radar, but I like to mention. Dfinity validators operate a BTC wallet via an MPC protocol built into the L1. Pretty cool. Osmosis — OG Cosmos team building a cross-chain DEX. Did $169mn in BTC trading volume last month. —————————————— p.s. I'm sure I missed some protocols, and I certainly don't claim to be experts on all of these. Hopefully, this is a useful starting point for those who wish to dive deeper into BTC DeFi.

We have added Costa Rica 🇨🇷 to our VPNs. 🎉 h/t crservers.com - Payable with BTC/Lightning ⚡️

@santimentfeed @chainlink @synthetix @DuskFoundation @HelloLumerin @IxSwap one of these seems grossly undervalued.

🧑‍💻 Here are crypto's top Real World Assets (RWA's) by development. Directional indicators represent each project's ranking rise or fall since last month: ➡️ 1) @chainlink $LINK 🥇 ➡️ 2) @synthetix $SNX 🥈 ➡️ 3) @duskfoundation $DUSK 🥉 📈 4) @hellolumerin $LMR 📈 5) @ixswap $IXS 📉 6) @makerdao $MKR 📉 7) @polymeshnetwork $POLYX 📉 8) @oraichain $ORAI 📈 9) @defactor_ $FACTR 📉 10) @centrifuge $CFG Read about the Santiment methodology for pulling github activity data from project repositories, and why it is so useful for crypto trading: medium.com/santiment/a-di…

@BTC_for_Freedom Costa Rica

The only thing I’m thinking about now is which country to move to with my family. Switzerland, Portugal, Malta, Dubai, Cyprus, El Salvador are all potential candidates. Any other good options that are Bitcoin and family friendly?

@bradmillscan @libredotorg

OG Bitcoiners don’t want to sell … we want to borrow. $Billions in pent demand to borrow … we will pay prime +2-3% all day. Whoever can create a civilized way for OGs to borrow against BTC will get Maximalist tail winds. Massive opportunity to provide extreme value.

@bradmillscan @bensig

ZK Firma Digital - Enhancing Costa Rica's digital identity system by @kuronosec @fagomezra88 github.com/zk-bankai/soul…

Mining Bitcoin isn't about "solving complex math equations". 👇

Get it yet? #Bitcoin 👑

🌐 Exciting times at #CollisionConf2024 in Canada! 🇨🇦 We’re thrilled to represent Costa Rican talent and showcase our innovative blockchain and Web3 solutions. 🌟 #PuraVida #TechInnovation #BlockchainRevolution

@NEEDcreations @AquaBitcoin @ZeusLN @MutinyWallet @BitcoinJungleCR

What's your favorite Lightning Wallet right now? (USA enabled) #bitcoin @AquaBitcoin @ZeusLN @MutinyWallet other (leave a reply)

Te invitamos a un Bitcoin Meetup patrocinado por Bitcoin Jungle el 29 mayo a las 5pm en Escazú. Entrada gratis, ¡Ahí nos vemos! Reservas: bitcoinjungle.app/es/rsvp

We asked the same question to several merchants who have been accepting #bitcoin for over 2 years: "What is Bitcoin?" Listen to the response from a local farmer >

this is it. we're moving to a new stage of the Endgame. Japanese Yen ripping through barriers like paper, passing each level where the BoJ intervened before. The slow motion meltdown has finally begun to accelerate, and authorities are powerless to stop the decline, unless they want to dump their Treasuries. Yellen probably on the phone with them tonight, warning dire consequences if they put their finger on the button to defend their currency. Japanese PM Kishida met with Biden this month, smiling on the surface, but pain underneath. He knows, as Kuroda does, the terrible truth: They are TRAPPED. With debt to GDP at an eye-watering 263%, they can't afford to normalize rates with the Fed. Since they have to maintain low rates, a massive carry trade opens up, bolstering USD and pulling JPY down consistently. The longer the Fed keeps rates high the worse this blows out. News of a hot inflation in the US this morning made things worse, as now Powell has more justification for "higher for longer". This means more pain ahead for the Asian behemoth. In the US, massive 50% downside miss on GDP paired with hot PCE means stagflation is returning. With government interest expense at all time highs and trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see, this means more debt growth as we accelerate across the Monetary Event Horizon. The walls are beginning to close in. Attacks on Bitcoin have escalated, first with Feds arresting the developers of Samourai Wallet. Next Phoenix Wallet pulls their app from Appstore, and now DTCC is assigning 100% haircut to all crypto assets. They're coming for the non-KYC wallets first. Then the nodes. Then self-custody. Your privacy is at stake. Your future is at stake. The truth is, they depend on us to keep the whole charade going. We man the barricades of the dying fiat monetary system. Without us working for their money, they have nothing to control us with. "Look, the people you are after are the people you depend on. We cook your meals, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances. We guard you while you sleep. Do not... fuck with us." -Tyler Durden

Who lives in Costa Rica? What are the best places for families?

FINANCIAL GRAVITY: If we divide the performance of the S&P 500 by the Fed’s Balance Sheet since the GFC, the LINE IS FLAT. This means that there has been basically NO REAL growth in stock prices since 2008- with the only rise in prices due to money printing. The correlation coefficient between central bank quantitative easing and the price of stock indexes is nearly 1. The money printed by the Fed, because of the structure of the Open Market Operations, is plugged directly into the Treasury markets, and from there, flows into equities and derivatives. This has served to primarily enrich the asset owners, financial institutions, and wealthy elites who own the majority of the stock market anyways. The entire rally has been an illusion, financed by the Fed and maintained through QE. In the black expanse of space, many things are not what they seem.