NEW YORK - ZetaChain, a blockchain startup, announced a significant expansion in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space with its collaboration with Sushi, a decentralized exchange. This partnership marks a milestone by enabling native Bitcoin (BTC) support and the ability to swap unwrapped BTC across 30 different networks. The announcement comes as Bitcoin experiences a surge in price and trading volume, fueled by the anticipation of an approved Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The integration between ZetaChain and Sushi leverages DeFi primitives, which are the foundational components of DeFi applications, to enhance user empowerment. This move is part of a broader effort by ZetaChain to drive Bitcoin's integration into DeFi and address the challenges of network interoperability that have long plagued the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
ZetaChain's platform stands out for supporting the deployment of smart contracts capable of interacting with native Bitcoin. This capability was initially proposed by Ethereum, which boasts a robust developer community. In contrast, Bitcoin has traditionally seen fewer developers focused on such applications due to its more limited scripting capabilities.
Ankur Nandwani from ZetaChain pointed out that their Layer 1 blockchain is designed for creating decentralized apps (dApps) that can seamlessly interact with other blockchains, a key feature in today's fragmented blockchain landscape. This development is especially noteworthy given that Ethereum has been the go-to blockchain for dApps due to its extensive support for smart contracts and a large developer base.
The founder of ZetaChain acknowledged the role of earlier blockchain projects like Basic Attention Token, Colored Coins, and Mastercoin in paving the way for their current progress. These projects contributed to the foundational technology and concepts that ZetaChain now builds upon.
In addition to its work with Sushi, ZetaChain has also recently integrated with OKX's self-custodial wallet. This integration, which occurred in October, allows Bitcoin users direct access to dApps without needing to leave the Bitcoin network—a significant step towards greater accessibility and usability in the DeFi sector.
Backed by a $27 million Series A funding round from prominent investors including Jane Street Capital, Blockchain.com, and Sky9 Capital, ZetaChain is well-positioned to continue its efforts in bridging various blockchains and bringing innovative solutions to the DeFi ecosystem.
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