Bitcoin Builders Come To Nashville

Bitcoin 2024 starts in Nashville, and Bitcoin builders are making their presence known

Thursday started the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville.

A look at the speakers shows just how expansive the Bitcoin industry has become. Major politicians (Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), activists, investors, engineers, public company CEOs, professional athletes, and more will speak at the conference.

On Thursday, the Bitcoin Builders Conference focused on Bitcoin innovation. The event featured a tailored group of builders, with speakers from Babylon, Botanix Labs, BOB, Bitlayer, BitcoinOS, Stacks, and more.

Layer 1 and Meta Protocols

• BitcoinOS verifies a ZK-proof on Bitcoin Mainnet. The final verification was confirmed in block 853626. BitcoinOS claims, “Bitcoin can now be infinitely upgradable permissionlessly while requiring no changes to the consensus code.”

• A few days before BitcoinOS’s announcement, Starkware announced, “For the First Time in History, a ZK Proof has been Verified on Bitcoin Signet!” Bitcoin builders are experimenting on Bitcoin.

• Proton, makers of ProtonMail, launched Proton Wallet, which they describe as “an open-source, E2E-encrypted, and self-custodial Bitcoin wallet.” A major privacy player has entered the Bitcoin space (and it appears they’re Bitcoin-focused).

• Fold, a Bitcoin personal finance application that integrates Bitcoin into everyday spending and rewards, registers to go public on the NASDAQ. This announcement is a major milestone for Bitcoin-based financial services companies.

• Hermetica launches USDh on Runes, a Bitcoin-backed synthetic dollar. Per the announcement, they claim the ability to earn up to 25% APY.

• Lightning Labs announces the first mainnet release of multi-asset Lightning. According to the release, “assets can be minted on bitcoin and sent via the Lightning Network instantly for low fees.” This creates an opportunity to unlock stablecoin volume on Bitcoin.

Layers

• Bitcoin Layers launched its V1 site with ratings and analysis of Bitcoin Layers like BOB, Core, Lightning, and Stacks. Read more here.

• The OP_CAT Wars rage on (kind of) — Starkware announces the launch of its $1M OP_CAT Research Fund.

• Acre, a new Bitcoin staking solution, goes live on mainnet with Xverse. Acre aims to bring a simple, user-friendly experience to Bitcoin yield.

Other

• Stay on the lookout for more announcements during the Bitcoin 2024 weekend. Follow Jacob Brown’s X post for some more updates.