The Bitcoin Layer 2 network is thriving, which projects are worth following?

The recent popularity of the inscription project has driven the development of the entire track, and the prices of related tokens continue to reach new highs. However, this has also sparked reflections on how inscriptions and the Bitcoin ecosystem can develop healthily.

Against this background, the trend of Bitcoin's second-layer networking seems inevitable. Second-layer networks can not only address the criticized "garbage transaction" problem but also create various DeFi applications through programmability, presenting a broad prospect. So, what is the current development trend of the Bitcoin second-layer network track? What early projects are worth following?

The main problems faced by the Bitcoin network are network congestion and surging transaction fees. Inscription transactions often set lower fees, resulting in a backlog of a large number of transactions in the memory pool. Data shows that among the more than 50 million UTXOs added in the past 7 months, 40 million are very small transactions of 100-1000 Satoshi. These transactions may never be packaged on-chain, essentially equivalent to a DDoS attack.

In contrast, the advantages of layer two networks become apparent. They solve network congestion issues by bundling transactions to the second layer, while leveraging the programmability of smart contracts to create various DeFi application scenarios for the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Currently, the Bitcoin Layer 2 network projects mainly include:

1. Stacks: As the second layer of Bitcoin, Stacks is anchored on the Bitcoin blockchain while introducing smart contract functionality similar to Ethereum. However, it uses STX as gas fees and employs a centralized mapping method to achieve BTC cross-chain, which carries certain risks.

2. RSK: It is a general smart contract platform secured by the Bitcoin network. Its main feature is the use of merged mining, allowing miners to mine Bitcoin and RSK simultaneously without additional resources. However, its cross-chain bridge still poses smart contract security risks.

3. BitVM: Aims to achieve Turing-complete Bitcoin contracts. It introduces state through Bit Commitments and achieves verifiability through logic gates. However, its functionality is currently extremely limited and remains in the theoretical stage.

4. BEVM: It is a Bitcoin second-layer network that uses BTC as Gas and is compatible with EVM. It adopts a decentralized cross-chain solution that allows BTC to build various DeFi applications on the second layer.

5. MAP Protocol: is a peer-to-peer cross-chain interoperability layer 2 network for Bitcoin. It can provide lower Gas fees and has implemented cross-chain capabilities for BRC20.

As more people recognize the importance of layer two networks for the future of Bitcoin, the entire sector will welcome new development opportunities. In particular, the most imaginative solutions and derivative application scenarios are expected to give birth to leading projects worth billions of dollars. The Bitcoin layer two network, as a new problem-solving approach, is still in the early blue ocean stage and deserves long-term follow.