Key takeaway:

• We are announcing the creation of the Bitcoin Lab ecosystem fund
• The Bitcoin Lab ecosystem fund provides builders with funding, market access, and technical assistance
• This fund will kick off a flywheel of onboarding new projects, attracting more users, increasing TVL, which in turn attracts more projects to build on ALEX
• As the ecosystem expands, with TVL and active users increasing, $ALEX utility will grow

What seems like a lifetime ago, Rachel and I lived and breathed TradFi from the skyscrapers of Wall Street. Our former careers imbued us with decades of institutional knowledge and first-hand experience of just how deeply global finance remains stuck in the fax machine era. As the technology to build the finance of the future emerged, we decided we would be among the builders rather than spectators.

Despite the bear market, we’ve risen to become the top Bitcoin DeFi protocol, and we’ve begun a momentous pivot towards becoming the Finance Layer of Bitcoin. We’re lowering the barrier for finance developers to come to Bitcoin. By providing composable code modules and unified liquidity for builders, ALEX will serve a thriving financial ecosystem combining the best features of L1 assets with L2 capabilities.

To help initiate and accelerate the growth of this ecosystem, we are announcing the creation of the Bitcoin Lab ecosystem fund. Rachel and I will provide the initial capital for Bitcoin Lab, to be used towards funding new projects building on the ALEX Layer. Bitcoin Lab’s purpose is to catalyze a positive feedback loop of ecosystem growth and expansion.

The Bitcoin Lab Ecosystem Fund

Launching ALEX has been a strong beginning but it will take a community of builders to generate the self-perpetuating growth that turns a cabin into a town and town into a city. Bitcoin Lab ecosystem fund not only provides the initial funding, but also offers builders

• Market Opportunity — Bitcoin is the most valuable blockchain yet relative to its market cap there’s barely any dApp value. A maximalist mindset has limited Bitcoin development for years. Now through Ordinals, BRC20 tokens and more sophisticated L2s, Bitcoin will catch up in dApp value to other major blockchain.
• Composable Code — Building on Bitcoin L1/L2 is a challenge for builders. Bitcoin script is restrictive and building from scratch on a L2 with its own coding language is a barrier to entry. We are making our APIs and software development kits (SDKs) open to all builders to provide the composable blocks of code needed to advance their efforts.
• Unified Liquidity — DeFi is uniquely challenging because coding prowess is not enough. Without a minimal threshold of liquidity, DeFi applications, such as AMM pools can not operate efficiently. Rather than having to struggle to bootstrap initial liquidity, ALEX provides unified liquidity across applications.

Implications for Builders

For builders and developers, access to initial funding and grants are vital. Bitcoin Lab provides the seed funding and vote of confidence in the project’s potential. Projects funded by Bitcoin Labs are automatically partnered with the ALEXGO, which provides technical assistance and mentorship toward product development and execution. ALEXGO will also introduce emerging projects to its extensive network of advisors, partners, market makers, exchanges and investors.

Implications for ALEX Ecosystem

Once projects are ready to come to market, the ALEX Decentralized Launchpad will connect them with ALEX’s dedicated community members and long term stakers and yield farmers. Regular IDOs for emerging projects energizes our existing community and attracts new users along with new capital. Onboarding new users funds increases Bridge TVL which, in turn, increases our AMM TVL. Greater liquidity in our AMM pools improves DEX trading performance, attracting more users and increasing the unified liquidity of the ALEX ecosystem. The greater the unified liquidity of the ALEX ecosystem, the more attractive it is for builders and developers.

Implications for Investors

For investors, the Bitcoin Lab ecosystem fund initiates a positive feedback loop of growth. As the ecosystem expands, with TVL and active users increasing, $ALEX utility will grow. Investors can expect greater diversification as new DeFi projects emerge on the platform. Bitcoin Lab is a catalyst for a long-term sustainable ecosystem, with $ALEX at the heart of it.

An Emerging Defi Ecosystem on ALEX

The Core Infrastructure

By building financial infrastructure, ALEX catalyzes the growth of Bitcoin Defi. In 2023, we have shipped the following core infrastructure on top of which other decentralized applications can be built:

• The ALEX Bridge was the first to link USDT on Ethereum and BNB to sUSDT on ALEX.
• We were first to create an L1/L2 decentralized BRC20 Orderbook DEX with B20byALEX.
• The ALEX Decentralized Launchpad is the first that is capable of distributing L1 assets, such as Ordinal NFTs and BRC20 tokens, through L2 programmability.
• Most recently with the on-chain Bitcoin Oracle, we’ve created infrastructure that will benefit all Bitcoin finance, through greater security and immutability for the global state of the meta-protocols like BRC20.

An Expanding Ecosystem

The next phase of ALEX will be our most exciting and profound yet: the transition from a multi-featured DeFi protocol to the Finance Layer of Bitcoin. As a preview of some of the projects already starting building on ALEX:

• A cross-chain bridge between Ethereum, Bitcoin and Stacks and cross-chain swap, all with one click
• Liquid Stacking
• Perpetual futures contracts
• Social Wallet
• Real World Assets

There is also the coming Nakamoto release, expected in Q1 2024. Transaction times on ALEX will drop from Bitcoin block times (~10 minutes) to ~5 seconds, redefining the user experience and ALEX Layer scalability.

Build on ALEX

Finance is more than money. Finance is the cutting edge technology for transferring value through time and space. Bitcoin Labs provides incentives, tools and builder support for Bitcoin Finance to grow. Builders, don’t miss the opportunity to apply now for an ALEX grant. The mass adoption of the future of finance will be inevitable and mostly importantly, permissionless.

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