Aave Gauges Community Interest for Expansion to Bitcoin Layer 2 Spiderchain

The potential deployment on a Bitcoin layer 2 by the largest DeFi lending protocol highlights the appetite for harnessing the original blockchain

DeFi lending giant Aave is canvassing its community for feedback on a potential deployment on the Bitcoin layer-2 network Spiderchain.

The Aave-Chain Initiative (ACI), which drives the protocol, published a call for comments on the proposal on Friday from Spiderchain developer Botanix Labs to integrate the lender – which has over $17 billion in total value locked – into the nascent Bitcoin DeFi scene.

The move to deploy on a Bitcoin layer 2 highlights the appetite for bringing functionality that is common elsewhere in the crypto ecosystem to the original blockchain. The bitcoin (BTC) price soared above $90,000 for the first time this week, reaching an all-time high of $93,445, as its dominance of the crypto industry reached 61.38%. Developers of projects native to other networks may be seeking to harness the deep reserves that are held in BTC.

Botanix Labs built Spiderchain to be compatible with protocols that use the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), the software that powers Ethereum and enables smart contracts. Botanix aims to let any Ethereum-based application be compatible with Bitcoin.

After feedback is gathered, the protocol will need to identify and mitigate potential security risks. ACI hasn't offered any expected timescale for this process.

Aave's native token (AAVE) has fallen just under 8% in the last 24 hours to just under $168, according to CoinDesk Indices. This drop is likely a reflection of the broad pullback across the crypto industry following BTC's surge above $90,000 on Wednesday.