Kevin He, co-founder of Bitlayer, talks to the community: Already in the final stages before TGE

The cryptocurrency market has shown a narrow range of fluctuations, with BTC prices continuing to fluctuate between 70,000 and 90,000 US dollars. In the absence of significant positive catalysis, the community also turned its focus to some leading projects without TGE. After more than a year of ecological construction cycle, the TGE time of some leading Bitcoin ecological protocol projects has gradually approached the critical point.

Recently, in response to the issues of TGE, high cost of on-chain GAS, weak empowerment of official assets and ecological wealth-making effects, Bitlayer co-founder Kevin He made a concentrated response and focused on disclosing BitVM technology progress and future plans.

In addition, in order to better collect community feedback, the Bitlayer team initiated a solicitation of community development proposals. Participants can fill out the questionnaire (the specific link is: https://bit.ly/bitlayercomm ) to give validity suggestions.

The following is based on Kevin's reply to recent hot topics in the Bitlayer community. The full text is as follows:

About TGE and Community Incentives

Question 1: Bitlayer completed a seed round financing as early as March 2024, and then successfully completed a round A and A+ rounds of US$25 million. The team also rewarded BTR as an airdrop to community users in its operational activities very early. Does the team have a clear time for the project TGE? What stage is currently in?

Kevin: We are indeed in the final stage before TGE at the moment. The TGE stage will involve systematic work in multiple dimensions including finalizing the token economic model, adapting the global compliance framework, and communication with exchanges and market makers. However, since these links involve confidentiality agreements of partners, the specific timetable cannot be disclosed at this stage.

It can be clear that we have made positive progress in all aspects. Once all necessary processes are completed and final confirmation is obtained, we will make progress simultaneously through official announcements, community channels and other channels as soon as possible. Please wait for the good news.

Question 2: When will the team plan to announce the token economic model? How to set the token allocation ratio? What are the utility of BTR tokens?

Kevin: The design of the token economic system is a key pillar of the project's long-term ecological value, and the team has always promoted related work with the core principles of rigor and sustainability. At present, details such as token allocation ratio, release rules and utility scenarios have entered the final demonstration stage.

We understand the community’s expectations for TGE, but the specific details are not yet disclosed. We promise to fully publish the token economic model through official channels at the appropriate stage before TGE, and reserve sufficient time for the community to interpret the rules. The latest information can be found in the official article later.

Question 3: Do users have locked positions for BTR rewards obtained by the head mineral festival, BTCFI carnival and other activities? How can the team prevent large-scale market selling pressure after the token is launched?

Kevin: The locking rules for the above-mentioned activities are related to specific activities. For example, our airdrop in the third issue of the head mine festival and the racing card drawing activity in the user center correspond to the BTR reward without locking. For more details, you can check the corresponding event announcement to confirm.

Overall, our design of airdrop rewards strictly follows the principle of binding contribution and long-term value. All reward distribution processes will set differentiated release cycles based on on-chain behavior and ecological participation. Specific rules and details will be fully disclosed through official announcements before TGE, and the community will be open to answer questions.

Question 4: Lucky Helmet is Bitlayer's first official NFT. Will there be other empowerment measures in the future?

Kevin: The helmet is Bitlayer's first official NFT, and the holder is the first batch of Bitlayer users. Before that, we have provided points bonus and other empowerment to helmet holders at the Head Mining Festival, and have also conducted exclusive BTR token airdrops. For helmet empowerment, the team has no reason to give up. We promise to empower more in various activities in the future. If the holder has better suggestions, you can contact the Bitlayer team for feedback.

About ecological development and operation strategies

Question 5: You have found that some Bitlayer ecological projects have been suspended. Does Bitlayer have no audit mechanism when cooperating with ecological projects? In addition, the entire Bitlayer ecosystem currently has no rich-creating effect and does not have much attention. How do you view this issue?

Kevin: As the public chain operator, we welcome more project parties to build it and actively provide various infrastructure support. However, the construction of the entire chain ecosystem is still in its early stages. The maturity of the ecosystem also requires a long-term process of technology verification, developer accumulation and market cognitive iteration. There will inevitably be many projects of varying quality in the process, but we must also see that many innovative products have also appeared in the ecosystem.

As for the lack of profits, my understanding is that this is a problem for the entire industry, not just a Bitlayer. We believe that with the continuous development of BTCFi and the entire chain, ecological projects will surely usher in a booming stage.

Question 6: Bitlayer Head Mine Festival has cooperated with so many ecological projects, and the rewards that the project will be rewarded in the end are not enough to be interactive.

Kevin: In the past year, Bitlayer has actively linked with ecological projects and attracted users to participate through points, token incentives, etc. As for the rewards for the final project, part of the important reason is that the current market conditions are average, and the price performance may not meet everyone's expectations. I believe that as the market improves, the overall performance will improve.

Regarding the problem of difficulty in redeeming the airdrop rewards of ecological projects reported by the community, the team is currently based on the demands between partners and users. The development team is stepping up the promotion of the Quick Jump solution to help users cross-chain airdrop rewards obtained by participating in Bitlayer's ecological projects interaction at a cost of nearly 0. This function is expected to be implemented in 2 weeks. In addition, we are actively promoting the implementation of solutions for the Gas interaction cost issue of the entire chain, and I believe there will be an answer that will satisfy everyone soon.

Question 7: The Bitlayer ecosystem is not very prosperous at present. What can users play when cross-chain BTC into the Bitlayer ecosystem?

Kevin: First of all, the high prosperity of the ecology is indeed a process. At the same time, the team has launched the BTCFi Yield portal ( https://www.bitlayer.org/btcfi ), taking into account the actual needs of users, and we will integrate DeFi products with high returns on the market for user experience. At present, the market still has a very high demand for products with relatively high APR. For example, the first BLBTC Yield BTC with a 600 BTC quota was only 47 hours. In addition, based on these BTCFi products, we also hope to work with partners to solve various asset management needs of BTC so that the on-chain business environment can be truly realized.

About technology and user experience

Question 8: Currently, the gas fees on the feedback chain are relatively high. When is it expected to achieve significant optimization?

Kevin: With the recent advancement of the main network of BitVM bridge and the iteration of the V2 main network approaching, the team will soon give an answer that satisfies users and further improves the user experience.

Question 9: What positions do Layer 2 and BitVM Bridge occupy in Bitlayer's planning, and what will be the focus of future business?

Kevin: Layer 2 and BitVM Bridge are two important and parallel business modules of Bitlayer. They work together through technical coupling and scenario collaboration. Layer 2, as the basic platform of Bitlayer, will improve the user and developer experience through V2 upgrades, reducing Gas fees, and continuous ecological support.

In addition, as a member of the BitVM Alliance, Bitlayer has made important contributions to the implementation of BitVM. At the heart of BitVM Bridge is the implementation of what is called the “1-of-N” trust model—the entire system will work as long as one of the multiple participants remains honest. This is essentially different from a model that requires "most people to be honest". Of course, BitVM Bridge's planning is far more than just the cross-chain transfer function of asset. Its goal is to connect with the needs of Bitcoin liquidity providers (including large investors, retail investors and institutions) and asset management agreements. In the future, the team also plans to open source this technology and encapsulate it into API services. For BitVM implementation and application scenarios, please refer to the video explanation: https://youtu.be/XzyYI6Kohd4?si=GHunGP6yOVZ7n8oZ

Whether it is Layer 2 building an ecosystem or a bridge business, it is the work that Bitlayer has been doing: developing BTCFi ecological infrastructure.

Question 10: Bitlayer is a project based on the BitVM paradigm. How to balance ease of use and decentralization?

Kevin: To answer this question, I think the essence must return to the real needs of coin holders.

From institutional holders and large investors who focus on compliance and security (such as National Reserve/BTC ETF issuers/listed companies/home offices, etc.), to retail investors who pursue efficient interaction, their specific diversity of needs determines that we need to provide differentiated solutions for them. For institutions and high net worth holders, asset sovereignty control and compliance transparency are their primary needs, and we hope to address counterparty risks and ensure verifiability through the trust-minimized BitVM Bridge solution. For ordinary users, many people enter this field not necessarily to pursue decentralized technical ideals, but to be able to use on-chain businesses or products conveniently. Therefore, we need to develop with a pragmatic attitude, while at the same time, we pay attention to business expansion and market adaptability in addition to technology.

About roadmap and strategic planning

Question 11: What are the core goals of Bitlayer’s 2025 technology roadmap?

Kevin: From the early stages of the project to the present, it has always been our work Polaris to face the market/solve industry pain points. After more than a year of technical accumulation, we have gradually begun to implement the R&D results. What we can expect is that we will have the following technical progress and implementation in the future: First, BitVM Bridge is currently in the test network stage, and we will usher in the main network online in the future; second, V2 is launched, and relevant functions are currently being improved. In addition, we are also carrying out a series of research and developments to improve user experience, such as the above mentioned reduction of Gas fees and supporting high-frequency trading functions. The above are all in our clear goals and plans. Bitlayer’s ultimate goal is to build a closed-loop business that realizes value creation and value release, operates profitable businesses, and is a company that spans cycles.

Question 12: What differentiation strategies will the team adopt in its global operations? How to expand ecological influence?

Kevin: Since the founding of Bitlayer, the team has adhered to an operational strategy based in Asia and facing the world. The Asian market is our basic foundation. We have built very good local communities in many Asian countries. At the same time, we are also actively expanding markets such as North America, the Middle East, and Europe. After hard work, Bitlayer's development achievements and potential have been recognized by a large number of institutions in North America, and more cooperation is being promoted.

When it comes to ecology, we must clearly realize that building a blockchain ecosystem requires time and requires the joint efforts of the official team, developers and the community. We firmly recognize Bitcoin DeFi in this general direction, and by investing in 2 core technologies (BitVM + high-frequency chain), we create 2 products (BitVM Bridge and Layer 2) to meet the asset management needs of various Bitcoin coin holders. As infrastructure is gradually improved and external conditions are gradually met, we believe that the prosperous Bitcoin DeFi will surely happen in the Bitlayer ecosystem.

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