Yona Network Brings Ethereum Virtual Machine Compatibility to Bitcoin Layer 2 Network

Yona Network, a Bitcoin Layer 2 network, is bringing multiple virtual machines to Bitcoin. On July 25, Yona announced it had integrated Neon Stack

Yona Network, a Bitcoin Layer 2 network, is bringing multiple virtual machines to Bitcoin.

On July 25, Yona announced it had integrated Neon Stack, the tech stack from Neon EVM, to introduce Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatibility onto Yona Network. The integration allows developers to port EVM-based decentralized applications (dApps) onto the Yona Network and the broader Bitcoin ecosystem.

“EVM developers and users will gain entry into the Bitcoin ecosystem, tapping into over $1 trillion of untapped liquidity and unique Bitcoin-based assets like Ordinals, Runes, and BRC-20s,” Yona Network said.

“With the integration of Neon Stack, we will empower Yona Network to expand its market audience and interact with the Ethereum community too,” said Davide Menegaldo, the chief commercial officer at Neon EVM.”

Yona already leverages the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) to facilitate high transaction throughput. In the past 24 hours, Solana processed an average of 3,173 transactions per second (TPS), compared to 250 TPS across Ethereum’s ecosystem and 5 TPS on Bitcoin.

Neon EVM’s tech stack facilitates EVM-compatibility for Solana and SVM-based chains.

Bitcoin’s growing L2 ecosystem

The news comes amid the proliferation of Bitcoin Layer 2 networks as developers seek to overcome Bitcoin’s scalability limits and lack of smart contract functionality. Analysts attribute Bitcoin’s scalability limits to its 1MB block size and 10-minute block times.

According to DeFi Llama, Bitlayer currently ranks as the largest EVM-compatible Bitcoin L2 by total value locked with $381.7 million. Merlin comes in second with $294.7 million, followed by the sidechains Stacks with $198.4 million and Rootstock with $169.6 million.

Bouncebit, a Bitcoin staking protocol, boasts a $388.7 million TVL, while Lightning Network, a payments-focused Bitcoin sidechain, also hosts $333.9 million.

Other Layer 2 projects bringing EVM functionality to Bitcoin include Hemi Network, Citrea, Bitfinity, Botanix, and Conflux — all of which are currently live on testnet.