In this Epoch, Solv Protocol, the leading on-chain Bitcoin reserve, joined the Solana ecosystem as the first Institutional Guardian to deploy BTC on Solana for yield generation. With the launch and adoption of APOLLO and zBTC, and the announcement of two new Bitcoin dApps during the first Olympus Call, the Bitcoin ecosystem on Solana is rapidly expanding.
Bitcoin on Solana
Solana’s DeFi ecosystem has grown significantly, with protocols like Kamino, Orca, and Meteora already integrating cbBTC (Coinbase BTC) into trading pools and reserves. cbBTC deployment on Solana has already seen over 150M supply TVL on Kamino alone, suggesting Solana could become a preferred chain for tokenized Bitcoin liquidity.
Compared to Solana, wrapped Bitcoin (e.g., WBTC) dominates with over $10 billion in TVL on Ethereum, but high gas fees deter frequent institutional interactions. Ethereum’s higher fees make it less competitive for high-volume BTCFi applications, despite its first-mover advantage and larger TVL. Solana offers a cost-effective alternative with comparable smart contract capabilities via its Rust-based programming environment and Neon EVM compatibility.
BTCFi’s long-term future lies in ecosystems that combine institutional appeal, technical maturity, cost efficiency, and strong user and developer engagement:
𐓷 Ecosystem Maturity
Evidence of institutional interest in Solana includes BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, expanding to Solana in March 2025, marking its seventh blockchain integration. BUIDL manages $1.7 billion in assets, combining U.S. Treasuries with blockchain technology.
While not directly BTCFi, this move signals Solana’s appeal to traditional finance (TradFi) giants exploring on-chain solutions.
- Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX Fund: Accessible via the BENJI platform, this on-chain U.S. fund is now available on Solana.
- Societe Generale Forge: The bank’s digital asset arm launched EURCV, the first MiCA-compliant stablecoin issued by a bank, directly on Solana.
- Citibank: In its 2024 Breakpoint appearance, Citi acknowledged active research and potential Solana integrations, including tokenized internal payments via its CIDAP stack.
𐓷 Liquidity & Tokenization Potential
Relevance to BTCFi: A mature DeFi ecosystem provides the infrastructure for BTCFi to thrive. For instance, Kamino’s co-founder noted in late 2024 that Solana could become a hub for BTC DeFi due to its speed and liquidity potential, contrasting with Ethereum’s higher costs and slower execution.
Institutions are already pouring into the Ecosystem as outlined previously, also almost 70 percent of Tradfi Firms are doing something with DeFi. Due to faster settlement times, increased transparency, and lower transaction costs than traditional methods. Traditional banking methods, specifically cross-border transactional methods, are the driving force.
- Solana’s DeFi protocols (Kamino, Orca, Meteora) exceeds $5B TVL with cbBTC reached $140M+ TVL on Kamino.
- Solana offers a middle ground: more mature than Bitcoin-native Layer-2s, more efficient than Ethereum.
𐓷 Cost Effectiveness
When comparing blockchain platforms, Solana stands out as a more efficient alternative to Ethereum, which suffers from higher fees and lower transaction speeds despite its large TVL.
While Bitcoin Layer-2 solutions like Stacks and Lightning Network lack DeFi maturity, and other Layer-1s like Binance Smart Chain face centralization issues, Solana offers a unique combination of smart contract capabilities, decentralization, and institutional appeal.
- Solana vs. Ethereum: While Ethereum has over $100B in TVL, its high fees and slower transaction speeds make it less competitive for BTCFi applications. Solana offers a cost-effective alternative with comparable smart contract capabilities.
- Solana vs. Bitcoin Layer-2s: Stacks and Lightning Network lack Solana’s smart contract flexibility and DeFi maturity. BitVM remains experimental with minimal institutional adoption.
- Solana vs. Other Layer-1s: Compared to Solana’s balanced ecosystem, Binance Smart Cahin (BSC) suffers from centralization with just 21 nodes (15 owned by Binance), while Aptos remains largely untested.
𐓷 Userbase & Builder Energy
- Solana attracts retail via memecoins and culture, and institutions via performance and reliability.
- Retail drives momentum, institutions bring stability, and Solana balances both.
- A16z reports show Solana outpacing Ethereum in builder market share from 2023 to 2024.
Ecosystem: Bitcoin <> Solana
Several major developments occurred during this Epoch, including the growing adoption of APOLLO’s zBTC and the announcement of two new Bitcoin applications.
𐓷 APOLLO
Following the APOLLO launch, the network has seen significant growth, with over 270 zBTC minted and more than 2,400 holders now using zBTC, the native Bitcoin asset on Solana.
APOLLO has quickly released new features that support swaps and cbBTC ↔ BTC withdrawals, marking a step forward toward becoming an “On-chain Bitcoin Exchange”.
The upcoming APOLLO upgrade will support WBTC ↔ BTC withdrawals. To make on-chain Bitcoin more accessible, the deposit confirmation time will be reduced from six blocks (~60 mins) to two blocks (~20 mins) with the Zeus infrastructure v2 upgrade.
𐓷 btcSOL
We all love Solana, and we worship Bitcoin. What if you could stake SOL to grow BTC?
Introducing btcSOL, Zeus Network’s latest Bitcoin application that allows Solana holders to accumulate Bitcoin through SOL restaking. The btcSOL mainnet, launching in Q2 2025, will enable SOL and LST-SOL holders to grow their BTC positions on Solana.
𐓷 LightningFi
While Solana excels at on-chain activities, it can be intimidating for those unfamiliar with DeFi. But what if Bitcoin holders could participate without needing to understand the complexities of DeFi and Solana?
Since Bitcoin wasn’t designed with DeFi functionality in mind, most Bitcoin holders haven’t explored these opportunities. That’s where LightningFi comes in, a one-stop yield aggregator that lets Bitcoin holders simply deposit their BTC and automatically access yield opportunities across the Solana DeFi ecosystem.
LightningFi is expected to launch in Q3 2025.
Technical Updates
During the first Olympus Call in Epoch 5, Dean Little, the co-founder and Chief Scientist of Zeus Network, announced the following technical upgrade roadmap:
𐓷 Deposit V2
According to the original deposit flow, deposited BTC passes through Hot Reserve and Cold Reserve, requiring 2 transactions on the Bitcoin side.
The latest design speeds up the process by reducing the Hot Reserve phase. Additionally, removing the Hot Reserve allows users to deposit without first opening a Solana account, creating a more seamless user experience.
𐓷 Dynamic Confirmation
Currently, the deposit process requires 6 Bitcoin block confirmations, meaning users must wait over 60 minutes for their deposited BTC to clear (since each Bitcoin block takes approximately 10 minutes).
The new upgrade will reduce this confirmation requirement from 6 blocks to 2 blocks, providing users with a faster experience than centralized exchanges when depositing BTC liquidity into Solana.
𐓷 Gasless Onboarding
Bitcoiners unfamiliar with Solana will be able to deposit Bitcoin into a Solana wallet without first obtaining SOL for transaction fees. Instead, zBTC will automatically be converted into the necessary fees for on-chain transactions.
𐓷 Learn More
All these upgrades share a single goal: making Solana a better home for your Bitcoin — faster transactions, lower fees, and higher yields. To learn more from Dean, listen to the Olympus Call #1 (30:51 ~ 44:15).
Network Stats
- Period: Apr. 6th, 2025 ~ May 5th, 2025
Top Milestones
- Onboarded Solv Protocol as Institutional Guardian
- Solana Breakout Hackathon Bitcoin on Solana Track
- Epoch 5 Olympus Call: New dApps, 200 zBTC Minted
Value Captured
- Highest BTC Price: $96,904
- Locked BTC Increased: 129.49011 BTC
- Total Network Volume (BTC): 623.8963306 (+132.5520407 / ↑26.98%)
- Total Network Volume (USD): 60,458,050 (+12,844,823 / ↑315.88%)
- Total Interactions: 3,146 (+1,393 / ↑79.46%)
- Unique Addresses: 1,440 (+1,014 / ↑238.03%)
Guardian Status
- Live: 5 Standard (Zeus Foundation, Mechanism Capital, Animoca Ventures, Anagram & Axia8 Ventures)
- Live: 1 Institutional (Solv Protocol)
- Onboarding: 3 Standard (Sec3, UTXO Management & Karatage)
Delegation & Capacity
- Total ZEUS Delegated: 13.5M (+7M / ↑107.69%)
- Total BTC Capacity: 425 BTC (+100 / ↑30.77%)
- Total Delegation Openings: 5 (Including 1 Guardian Initiation + 1 Institutional Guardian Initiation)
- Total Delegators: 982 (+359 / ↑58.13%)
Make Solana the Bitcoin Bank
As nations increasingly adopt Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset and traditional financial institutions embrace Solana, these converging trends align perfectly with the launch of Zeus Network in late 2023.
The initial milestones delivered through APOLLO have exceeded all expectations, while btcSOL and LightningFi are preparing to showcase more innovative on-chain Bitcoin applications.
Zeus Network envisions Solana as the ultimate hub for Bitcoin finance, a Bitcoin bank powering all financial applications.
