How to prepare for the coming Bitcoin yield boom

Bitcoin (BTC) has been a terrific store of value but a terrible yield asset. Fortunately, the days of sub-0.5% BTC yields are ending.

Bitcoin (BTC) has long been touted as a valuable store of value, but its low yield has been a pain point for many holders. Now, emerging opportunities in Bitcoin’s layer-2 (L2) and decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystems are set to change the game. Here's how to prepare for the coming BTC yield boom.

Previously, Bitcoin mining was the only way to earn meaningful BTC rewards. Regular holders had to settle for centralized finance (CeFi) platforms — such as now-defunct Celsius and Voyager — or pitiful DeFi yields. As of Sept. 5, DeFi lending platform Aave was paying Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) depositors a measly 0.04% APR.

That’s changing. After years of quiet development, Bitcoin’s L2 scaling networks — such as Lightning Network, Core Chain, Rootstock (RSK), and Stacks — are gaining traction. Total value locked (TVL) on Bitcoin’s L2s surged to approximately $1.4 billion as of Sept. 5, according to data from DeFiLlama. That's up nearly 275% year-to-date and tenfold since 2023.

“I expect Bitcoin L2s to capture a significant portion of Bitcoin’s $1+ trillion market capitalization in the coming years,” Brendon Sedo of L2 developer CoreDAO told Cointelegraph.

Some L2s — including Core Chain, Babylon, and Spiderchain — are exploring Bitcoin-native staking. Similar to proof-of-stake (PoS) networks such as Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin L2 stakers lock up BTC as collateral to secure the networks in exchange for rewards.

Meanwhile, liquid staking derivatives (LSD) protocols are bringing BTC staking yield to even more L2s. These protocols issue tokenized claims on staking pools and include Core Earn, Bedrock, Stroom, and Pell Network.

It’s still early. Spiderchain is still in testnet, and Babylon hasn’t started emitting rewards. But CoreChain’s LSD, stBTC, is live — and touts an 8.8% reward rate.

That’s considerably higher than PoS networks Solana (SOL) or Avalanche (AVAX) — which yield 6.85% and 7.83%, respectively — and far more than Ethereum’s 3.4% APR as of Sept. 5, according to StakingRewards.com.

Crucially, Core Chain pays stakers in CORE, its native token, not BTC. Remember, always do your own research and carefully consider whether a cryptocurrency strategy is right for you before aping in — or you’ll lose money!

Bitcoin L2s aren’t only about staking. Some — including RSK, Merlin, and Stacks — already host Bitcoin-native DeFi ecosystems, including decentralized exchanges (ALEX, Bitflow), lending protocols (MoneyOnChain, Zest), and all-in-one platforms like Sovryn. Merlin even touts a Bitcoin-native derivatives protocol, Surf.

Payment protocol Lightning Network launched in 2018 and remains venerable, with nearly $300 million in TVL, according to DeFiLlama. Node operators — who provide BTC liquidity to Lightning’s payment channels in exchange for fees — earn an average of 5.62% APR in BTC, according to Magma, a marketplace for Lightning channels.

Similar to Bitcoin mining, Lightning nodes are dominated by professional shops — like LQWD Technologies Corp — not retail holders.

These BTC staking protocols won’t stay under the radar for long. Institutional staking services, including Kiln and Figment, already support staking Stacks’ native token, STX, which pays rewards in BTC from network fees. They might add more networks soon.

In May, asset manager Valour launched the Valour Bitcoin Staking (BTC) SEK ETP, an exchange-traded product (ETP) listed on the Scandinavian exchange Nordic Growth Market. It stakes BTC on Core Chain. Valour launched a Core Chain validator node in June.

On Sept. 3, asset manager 21.co launched its regulated BTC wrapper, 21.co Wrapped Bitcoin (21BTC). Expect more institutional liquidity to follow.

The most compelling possibilities for BTC in DeFi are on Ethereum. Restaking protocol EigenLayer’s 2023 launch has been game-changing for crypto, and BTC is no exception.

EigenLayer supports a growing constellation of “actively validated services” (AVS) — protocols that secure themselves using EigenLayer’s nearly $12 billion pool of restaked ETH. In November, AVSs will start paying for that privilege from protocol revenues, generating yield for restakers.

EigenDA, EigenLayer’s first and largest AVS, added native L2 token restaking in August. This effectively expanded restaking from ETH and EigenLayer’s native EIGEN token