比特幣減半推動創新與投資，DeFi 興起

在最近的比特幣減半期間，區塊鏈見證了重大進步，推出了旨在吸引開發人員加入其網路的創新程式功能。從歷史上看，以太坊和 Solana 等競爭對手的鏈由於其內建的智能合約，在功能上已經超越了比特幣。然而，最近的減半後升級使比特幣上的 DeFi 成為現實，引起了程式設計師和創投投資者的關注。

The Bitcoin Halving: A Turning Point for Innovation and Investment

比特幣減半：創新與投資的轉折點

As the highly anticipated Bitcoin halving event transpired, the blockchain witnessed a confluence of groundbreaking developments designed to attract an influx of developers to the network. For years, rival blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana have challenged Bitcoin's functional prowess, boasting natively integrated smart contracts within their base chains. However, recent enhancements introduced in the wake of the halving have transformed decentralized finance (DeFi) on Bitcoin into a scalable reality, captivating coders as Bitcoin's market capitalization soars past $1.3 trillion.

隨著備受期待的比特幣減半事件的發生，區塊鏈見證了旨在吸引大量開發人員湧入網路的突破性發展的融合。多年來，以太坊和 Solana 等競爭對手的區塊鏈一直在挑戰比特幣的功能實力，並在其基礎鏈中擁有原生整合的智慧合約。然而，減半後推出的最新增強功能已將比特幣上的去中心化金融 (DeFi) 轉變為可擴展的現實，隨著比特幣市值飆升至超過 1.3 兆美元，吸引了編碼人員。

In the heart of Silicon Valley, 17 programmers working for Magic Eden, a renowned marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) known as ordinals, gathered in a sprawling rented house. Their mission: to dedicate a week to coding in preparation for the Bitcoin halving, an event embedded in the blockchain's code to curb inflation through programmatic monetary policy.

在矽谷的中心地帶，Magic Eden 是一個著名的不可替代代幣 (NFT) 市場，被稱為序號，17 名程式設計師聚集在一間寬敞的租來的房子裡。他們的使命：用一周的時間進行編碼，為比特幣減半做準備，比特幣減半是嵌入區塊鏈程式碼中的事件，旨在透過程序性貨幣政策抑制通貨膨脹。

While much of the hype surrounding the halving, which occurs approximately every four years, centered on the impending reduction in the issuance of new coins, the block that triggered the halving also coincided with several other significant blockchain launches. These included cutting-edge programming innovations that promise to attract both a surge of coders and a substantial inflow of venture capital into the Bitcoin ecosystem.

雖然圍繞著大約每四年發生一次的減半的大部分炒作都集中在即將減少的新代幣發行量上，但觸發減半的區塊也與其他幾個重要的區塊鏈發布同時發生。其中包括尖端的程式設計創新，這些創新有望吸引大批程式設計師和大量風險資本流入比特幣生態系統。

In contrast to previous halving events, the world's largest cryptocurrency reached an unprecedented all-time high above $73,000 in March, driven by a surge of capital flowing into the Bitcoin ecosystem via newly launched spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States.

與先前的減半事件相比，由於美國新推出的現貨比特幣交易所交易基金（ETF）流入比特幣生態系統的資金激增，全球最大的加密貨幣在3 月達到了前所未有的歷史新高，突破了73,000 美元。

"Bitcoin has never been healthier – what was missing previously was a vibrant developer ecosystem on top," asserted Zedd Yin, Magic Eden's co-founder and chief operating officer.

Magic Eden 聯合創始人兼首席營運長 Zedd Yin 表示：“比特幣從未如此健康過，之前缺少的是一個充滿活力的開發者生態系統。”

Amidst the coding frenzy, some Magic Eden programmers took brief respites to indulge in arcade games. The pop-up hacker house, while modest in scale, provided a few creature comforts to sustain the team throughout the week. These included Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Street Fighter-themed arcade machines in the living room, complemented by a makeshift open bar on a collapsible plastic table in the dining room.

在編碼狂潮中，一些 Magic Eden 程式設計師短暫休息一下，沉迷於街機遊戲。彈出式黑客之家雖然規模不大，但提供了一些物質享受來維持團隊一周的生活。其中包括客廳裡的忍者龜和街頭霸王主題的街機，以及餐廳可折疊塑膠桌上的臨時開放式酒吧。

The engineers embarked on the hackathon with a clear understanding of their objectives. In the days leading up to the halving, Yin, 33, assembled his team under one roof in Northern California with a singular goal: to code and launch the definitive marketplace for a new wave of digital products emerging on Bitcoin's blockchain. On Monday morning, Magic Eden's Runes Platform went live, solidifying its position as the preferred platform for trading these novel Bitcoin offerings.

工程師們在清楚了解自己的目標的情況下開始了黑客馬拉松。在減半之前的幾天裡，33 歲的Yin 將他的團隊聚集在北加州的一個屋簷下，只有一個目標：為比特幣區塊鏈上出現的新一波數位產品編寫程式碼並推出最終市場。週一早上，Magic Eden 的 Runes 平台上線，鞏固了其作為交易這些新穎的比特幣產品的首選平台的地位。

For years, rival chains like Ethereum and Solana have challenged Bitcoin's functionality, as both incorporate smart contracts, programmable pieces of code, directly into their base chains. This has been a primary reason why developers worldwide have flocked to these blockchains to build applications.

多年來，以太坊和 Solana 等競爭對手鏈一直在挑戰比特幣的功能，因為兩者都將智慧合約、可程式碼片段直接納入其基礎鏈中。這是世界各地的開發人員紛紛湧向這些區塊鏈來建立應用程式的主要原因。

Enter Casey Rodarmor, a prominent Bitcoin coder who shattered this dynamic last year with the introduction of Bitcoin's version of NFTs, known as ordinals. Developers subsequently leveraged ordinals as a foundation for Bitcoin-issued coins called BRC-20 tokens. The launch was initially met with muted fanfare but ultimately garnered Rodarmor immense acclaim.

凱西·羅達莫 (Casey Rodarmor) 是一位著名的比特幣編碼員，他去年推出了比特幣版本的 NFT（稱為序數），打破了這一動態。開發人員隨後利用序數作為比特幣發行的代幣（稱為 BRC-20 代幣）的基礎。此次發布最初引起了熱烈的關注，但最終為 Rodarmor 贏得了巨大的讚譽。

Late on Friday night, coinciding with the precise moment of the Bitcoin halving, Rodarmor unveiled his latest creation, runes, which essentially represents a superior and more efficient version of BRC-20 tokens.

週五深夜，恰逢比特幣減半的時刻，Rodarmor 推出了他的最新作品 Runes，它本質上代表了 BRC-20 代幣的高級且更高效的版本。

"People really respect Casey and think that he sort of captured lightning in a bottle," said Nic Carter of Castle Island Ventures. "And so there's very high expectations for runes as well."

Castle Island Ventures 的 Nic Carter 表示：“人們真的很尊重凱西，認為他在瓶子裡捕捉到了閃電。” “所以人們對符文也抱有很高的期望。”

Technically, runes enable asset issuance of fungible tokens directly on Bitcoin's base chain. These assets could encompass stablecoins, memecoins, or any other type of fungible token.

從技術上講，符文可以直接在比特幣的基礎鏈上發行可替代代幣的資產。這些資產可能包括穩定幣、迷因幣或任何其他類型的可替代代幣。

The significance of runes for developers lies in their efficiency compared to existing BRC-20 tokens, Bitcoin's widely adopted fungible token standard that has already gained significant traction. Establishing a universally accepted token standard is considered crucial for unlocking the scalability of decentralized finance on Bitcoin. Decentralized finance, or DeFi, is a parallel banking system that eliminates intermediaries such as lawyers and banks, relying instead on code for enforcement.

符文對開發人員的重要性在於其與現有 BRC-20 代幣相比的效率，BRC-20 是比特幣廣泛採用的可替代代幣標準，已經獲得了巨大的關注。建立普遍接受的代幣標準被認為對於釋放比特幣去中心化金融的可擴展性至關重要。去中心化金融（DeFi）是一種平行銀行系統，消除了律師和銀行等中介機構，而是依靠代碼來執行。

"Fungible tokens are a significant part of every meaningful ecosystem like solana and ethereum, so runes is an important step in the evolution of bitcoin," said Yin, who previously led institutional trading product development at Coinbase.

「可替代代幣是 solana 和以太坊等每個有意義的生態系統的重要組成部分，因此符文是比特幣進化的重要一步，」曾在 Coinbase 負責機構交易產品開發的 Yin 表示。

Bill Barhydt, the CEO of Abra, a company that offers a suite of services to miners, including auto liquidations, and possesses access to industry-wide macro data, posits that Bitcoin cannot scale 100% on-chain via its own layer one. This impediment stems from the absence of built-in smart contract capabilities within Bitcoin's blockchain, which are essential for replicating the banking stack of blockchains like Ethereum or Solana.

Abra 是一家為礦工提供包括自動清算在內的一系列服務的公司，其執行長 Bill Barhydt 認為，比特幣無法透過自己的第一層在鏈上實現 100% 的擴容。這項障礙源自於比特幣區塊鏈內缺乏內建智慧合約功能，而這對於複製以太坊或 Solana 等區塊鏈銀行堆疊至關重要。

"BRC-20 tokens and ordinals, its successor runes, sidechains such as stacks, and DeFi on bitcoin are all showing strong promise in user adoption which stands to dramatically increase the demand for bitcoin block space and adoption, which I believe will create a positive feedback loop further driving bitcoin price gains in the coming years," Barhydt said. "It's truly remarkable the level of new development work happening around bitcoin," he added.

「BRC-20 代幣和序號、其後繼符文、堆疊等側鏈以及比特幣上的DeFi 都在用戶採用方面表現出了強大的前景，這將大大增加對比特幣區塊空間和採用的需求，我相信這將創造積極的影響反饋循環將在未來幾年進一步推動比特幣價格上漲，」Barhydt 說。 「圍繞比特幣進行的新開發工作的水平確實令人矚目，」他補充道。

Venture investors echo these sentiments.

風險投資者也贊同這些觀點。

"I've never seen deal pacing move this aggressively in the bitcoin space in my entire career," Carter tells CNBC.

卡特告訴 CNBC：“在我的整個職業生涯中，我從未見過比特幣領域的交易節奏如此劇烈。”

Surging Interest in Bitcoin Layer Two

對比特幣第二層的興趣高漲

Indeed, the appetite of venture capital firms for these layer two Bitcoin projects has witnessed a marked uptick in recent months.

事實上，近幾個月來，創投公司對這些第二層比特幣項目的興趣明顯上升。

PitchBook indicates that the final quarter of 2023 was the first time in nearly two years that deal value in the crypto sector had increased, reaching $1.9 billion – a 2.5% increase from the previous quarter. While still a far cry from the $31 billion high recorded in 2021, funds are gradually rebuilding their interest and trust in the space.

PitchBook 表示，2023 年最後一個季度加密貨幣領域的交易價值近兩年來首次成長，達到 19 億美元，較上一季成長 2.5%。儘管距離 2021 年創下的 310 億美元高點仍有很大差距，但基金正在逐漸重建對該領域的興趣和信任。

"There's definitely been an awakening of capital interest in the bitcoin layer two space," said Muneeb Ali, co-founder of Stacks – an open-source blockchain network that brings smart contracts to Bitcoin.

Stacks 的聯合創始人 Muneeb Ali 表示：“資本對比特幣第二層領域的興趣肯定已經覺醒。Stacks 是一個為比特幣帶來智能合約的開源區塊鏈網路。”

Stacks operates as a separate chain from Bitcoin, but the two can interoperate. The project also launched an upgrade at the time of the halving block, reducing transaction time to five seconds, significantly faster than the 10 to 30 minute block times associated with Bitcoin's base chain.

Stacks 作為與比特幣分開的鏈運行，但兩者可以互通。該專案還在區塊減半時啟動了升級，將交易時間縮短至五秒，明顯快於比特幣基礎鏈相關的 10 至 30 分鐘的區塊時間。

"Having so much VC interest just cements that the bitcoin ecosystem is primed to grow," said Ali, noting that the pace of projects launching on Bitcoin has also accelerated in the past six months, from a handful of live projects to over 50.

Ali 表示：「如此多的創投興趣鞏固了比特幣生態系統的發展勢頭。」他指出，過去六個月裡，比特幣計畫的啟動速度也有所加快，從少數活躍項目增加到50 多個。

A recent report published by Austin-based venture capital firm Trammell Venture Partners revealed that the Bitcoin startup sector experienced a breakout year at the pre-seed stage, with a notable 360% year-over-year surge in transaction count.

總部位於奧斯汀的創投公司 Trammell Venture Partners 最近發布的一份報告顯示，比特幣新創產業在種子期前經歷了突破性的一年，交易數量比去年同期大幅增長 360%。

"Founders really want to be building on bitcoin specifically," said Christopher Calicott, the fund's managing director and founding partner, regarding the study's findings.

該基金董事總經理兼創始合夥人克里斯托弗·卡利科特(Christopher Calicott)在談到該研究結果時表示：“創始人確實希望專門以比特幣為基礎。”

The report further indicated that early-stage, Bitcoin-native startups raised just under $1 billion from 2021 through 2023.

該報告進一步表明，從 2021 年到 2023 年，早期階段的比特幣原生新創公司籌集了近 10 億美元。

Alpen Labs, for instance, a layer two project introducing cutting-edge scaling technology known as zero-knowledge proofs to Bitcoin, recently emerged from stealth mode with Ribbit Capital leading a $10.6 million funding round. Another prominent layer two solution, dubbed "Build on Bitcoin" or BOB, has secured $10 million in seed funding.

例如，Alpen Labs 的第二層專案引入了被稱為比特幣零知識證明的尖端擴容技術，該專案最近從隱形模式中脫穎而出，由 Ribbit Capital 領投，領投了一輪 1060 萬美元的融資。另一個著名的第二層解決方案被稱為「基於比特幣構建」或 BOB，已獲得 1000 萬美元的種子資金。

"Ordinals, BRC-20s and other innovations that came about in 2023 really helped build momentum ahead of the halving," Ali said. "They made bitcoin fun again for developers and showed that users will favor NFTs, assets, and apps on bitcoin if given the opportunity."

「Ordinals、BRC-20 和 2023 年出現的其他創新確實有助於在減半之前建立動力，」阿里說。 “他們讓比特幣再次為開發者帶來樂趣，並表明如果有機會，用戶將青睞比特幣上的 NFT、資產和應用程式。”

DeFi on Bitcoin Rails

比特幣軌道上的 DeFi

For years, developers have endeavored to incorporate additional functionality into Bitcoin's base chain. Barhydt tells CNBC that demand for DeFi – especially yield and lending – is a key driver of crypto adoption.

多年來，開發人員一直致力於將額外的功能納入比特幣的基礎鏈中。 Barhydt 告訴 CNBC，對 DeFi 的需求——尤其是收益率和貸款——是加密貨幣採用的關鍵驅動力。

Sidechains like Stacks, for instance, have been diligent in their efforts to introduce the speed and competitive transaction costs of Solana-like rails into the Bitcoin ecosystem, aiming to decongest the main chain and enable the overall Bitcoin economy to scale.

例如，像 Stacks 這樣的側鏈一直在努力將類似 Solana 的軌道的速度和有競爭力的交易成本引入比特幣生態系統，旨在緩解主鏈的擁塞並使整個比特幣經濟規模化。

With runes, these existing projects have acquired a new tool for growth, as it empowers them to potentially integrate with a native, lightweight token system on the main Bitcoin chain rather than having to establish their own independent token environment.

借助符文，這些現有項目獲得了新的成長工具，因為它使它們能夠與比特幣主鏈上的原生輕量級代幣系統集成，而不必建立自己的獨立代幣環境。

"Runes presents an efficient system for creating and managing fungible tokens directly on bitcoin in a way that reduces blockchain bloat and improves scalability compared to other token standards," said Hong Fang, president of crypto exchange OKX. "This has major implications for layer two solutions and sidechains that are working to scale bitcoin," added Fang, who previously spent almost a decade at Goldman Sachs.

加密貨幣交易所OKX 總裁Hong Fang 表示：「Runes 提供了一種直接在比特幣上創建和管理可替代代幣的高效系統，與其他代幣標準相比，可以減少區塊鏈膨脹並提高可擴展性。 「這對致力於擴展比特幣規模的第二層解決方案和側鏈具有重大影響，」先前在高盛工作了近十年的 Fang 補充道。

Stacks's Ali dubs the post-halving environment "bitcoin season two."

Stacks 的阿里將減半後的環境稱為「比特幣第二季」。

"Season two is all about the return of builders to bitcoin. Users are finally separating bitcoin the asset from Bitcoin, as the rails," he said.

「第二季的主題是開發者回歸比特幣。用戶最終將比特幣作為資產與比特幣分開，作為軌道，」他說。

For Yin and his team, one other significant takeaway from the runes hackathon was the need for enhanced due diligence when selecting Airbnb properties.

對於 Yin 和他的團隊來說，符文黑客馬拉鬆的另一個重要收穫是在選擇 Airbnb 房產時需要加強盡職調查。

The team encountered an inoperable outdoor gas fireplace that emitted a persistent odor of gas throughout the week, the rental's WiFi was inoperable for the entire first day, and several individuals contracted Covid.

團隊遇到了一個無法使用的戶外瓦斯壁爐，整個星期都散發著持久的瓦斯氣味，出租屋的 WiFi 在第一天都無法使用，有幾個人感染了新冠病毒。