Xverse Is Integrating Starknet to Provide a Seamless Bitcoin DeFi Experience

Xverse Is Integrating Starknet to Provide a Seamless Bitcoin DeFi Experience

We’re excited to announce the integration with Starknet to ensure our users can get a user-friendly Bitcoin DeFi experience even before the potential OP_CAT upgrade is implemented.

• Xverse will integrate Starknet, a leading Ethereum L2 that is now expanding to settle transactions on Bitcoin simultaneously.
• Bitcoiners will get access to Bitcoin DeFi even before OP_CAT is activated.

At Xverse, we provide a gateway to the growing Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem, where bitcoin holders can put their assets to work. This new integration with Starknet will make it easy and convenient to stake, borrow, lend, or farm Bitcoin assets.

What is Starknet?

Starknet is a rollup-based Layer 2 scaling solution that deploys Zero-Knowledge Scalable Transparent Arguments of Knowledge (zk-STARKS) to prioritize privacy, scalability, and security.

Originally built as an L2 for Ethereum, Starknet also has its eyes set on Bitcoin. 

Oren Katz, CEO of StarkWare (the technology company behind Starknet), believes that Starknet will be Bitcoin’s execution layer. It will not only unlock more scalability for the biggest chain in the world but also open up new avenues for yield farming, staking, borrowing, lending, and other Bitcoin DeFi services.

Starknet will be able to bring DeFi products and services to Bitcoin even before OP_CAT is activated, giving Bitcoiners a taste of what user-friendly, trustless DeFi on Bitcoin can look like.

Starknet Is Coming to Bitcoin, No OP_CAT Required

The Starknet Foundation recently released a new Bitcoin Roadmap which declares that Starknet, while remaining fully active on Ethereum, “will become Bitcoin’s execution layer, trustlessly scaling Bitcoin from 13 transactions per second (TPS) to thousands.”

The document emphasizes that since the initial June announcement about Starknet also settling on Bitcoin, the scope has become more ambitious. There will even be a Bitcoin version of the Starknet Foundation’s DeFi Spring program to celebrate this move.

“Starknet will enable people holding bitcoin to easily put their BTC to work, with trust assumptions for now, in a compelling preview of what will in due course be possible trustlessly,” Xverse CEO Ken Liao explains.

What OP_CAT Unlocks for Starknet and Bitcoin DeFi

OP_CAT is a Bitcoin script operation originally introduced by Satoshi but later removed due to security concerns. Its revival will enhance Bitcoin’s programmability, unlocking new trustless on-chain functionality.

With OP_CAT, Bitcoin can support:

• Enhanced Cross-Chain Compatibility: OP_CAT improves Bitcoin’s ability to efficiently verify Merkle proofs and cryptographic commitments from external blockchains like Starknet, reducing reliance on intermediaries.‍
• Advanced Bitcoin Contracts: OP_CAT enables more sophisticated covenants, allowing trustless lending, staking, and financial agreements directly on Bitcoin, without third-party custodians.‍
• Improved Scaling: OP_CAT supports efficient rollup designs (e.g., STARK proofs), bundling transactions off-chain and settling compact proofs on-chain, lowering fees and increasing throughput without compromising Bitcoin’s security.

While Starknet initially uses a multisig federation for bridging, OP_CAT activation will enable Starknet to operate trustlessly on Bitcoin, removing the need for federated signers. Users will then fully experience decentralized Bitcoin DeFi directly on-chain, without trust assumptions.

Swap BTC > STRK with Xverse Swaps

While the Starknet integration is not yet live in the Xverse wallet, we are adding BTC > STRK swaps to wallet.xverse.app/swaps. This ensures users can seamlessly move between Bitcoin and the Starknet ecosystem even before our full wallet integration is complete.

This early swap availability demonstrates our commitment to bringing Starknet to Xverse, allowing users to acquire STRK for use in the ecosystem, providing a trusted way to interact with Starknet from day one.

Trust Assumption of the Starknet-Xverse Integration

Bridging Starknet to Bitcoin will follow a multisig model, which means a federation of co-signers–not smart contracts–enforces the logic. 

This group of co-signers is responsible for minting the exact amount of wrapped bitcoin on Starknet as the amount being bridged. 

While the multisig setup allows for lower fees and a smoother user experience, it relies on the honesty of the signers, which can impact network liveness.

Bringing Bitcoin DeFi to Everyone

To make Bitcoin truly accessible and useful for everyone, wallets need to be more than just storage solutions. They need to provide easy access to Bitcoin’s growing utility beyond being a store of value. 

“In today’s environment, there is a temptation for wallet teams to say ‘yeah, let’s just focus on making it easier for people to use Bitcoin as a store of value.’ But the long-term future of Bitcoin also includes utility, and that’s why Layer 2 solutions must reach the public via the wallets they actually use,” Ken explains. 

We are bringing the benefits of Starknet’s Layer 2 scaling solutions to Xverse users to offer an elevated Bitcoin DeFi experience with cheaper transaction costs and fast transaction speeds, opening the door to a more user-friendly Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem.

Download Xverse wallet today to start your Bitcoin DeFi journey.