Prominent voices in the Bitcoin community believe decentralized finance (DeFi) will transform Bitcoin from a passive store of value into an active asset capable of rivaling traditional financial systems.
At the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, speakers expressed strong confidence that Bitcoin’s evolving infrastructure will drive the next wave of DeFi innovation. Their vision aligns with that of early pioneers who imagined a decentralized alternative to the fiat financial system.
The event spotlighted DeFi initiatives such as the Liquid Network, alongside new Bitcoin DeFi startups aiming to broaden the ecosystem’s decentralized technology stack.
A prevailing sentiment throughout the conference was that Bitcoin serves as the foundation of modern finance, with its growing DeFi sector pushing to expand Bitcoin’s role and utility within the financial landscape.
Developers Leading the Next Wave of Bitcoin DeFi Evolution
At the core of the growing Bitcoin DeFi movement is a powerful belief: Bitcoin is too valuable and influential to remain a passive asset.
Jacob Phillips, co-founder of Lombard Finance—a liquid staking protocol—emphasized this shift, stating, “Bitcoin DeFi is about building a trustless, permissionless financial system around Bitcoin, turning it into an active financial instrument, not just a vault.” Lombard’s LBTC token supports this transformation by allowing users to stake Bitcoin on the Babylon blockchain to earn yield, while simultaneously using the token in DeFi applications such as lending and trading beyond the Bitcoin network.
Adrián Eidelman, co-founder and CTO of RootstockLabs, highlighted Bitcoin’s Layer 2 (L2) as the ideal foundation for smart contracts and broader financial inclusion. “There’s no other blockchain, no other place better than Bitcoin to be the foundation of a new financial system,” he told Cointelegraph. Rootstock’s RKS merged mining reached an all-time high in Q1 2025, signaling growing interest in sidechains and federated bridges that enhance Bitcoin’s functionality without compromising its security.
Meanwhile, Charlie Hu, co-founder of Bitlayer, stressed the importance of finality and self-sovereignty. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Hu argued that Bitcoin’s base layer should remain the cornerstone of security and finality in DeFi, advocating for infrastructure that strengthens the core protocol rather than relying solely on sidechains.
Security, Sovereignty, and Real-World Utility
Blockstream CEO Adam Back highlighted the potential of Bitcoin DeFi to generate yield, telling Cointelegraph, “Once you have a Bitcoin Layer 2, you can stake your Bitcoin and have instant Bitcoin yield. This is completely different from an ETF,” drawing a clear distinction between traditional finance and decentralized, trustless systems.
Back argued that Bitcoin-native applications could outperform traditional financial services by offering better borrowing rates and deeper liquidity. “The most liquid markets will be onchain, and so the best borrowing rates, for example, will be onchain,” he said. He pointed to Bitcoin DeFi’s trustless architecture—enabled by tools like hardware wallets and Layer 2 staking—as key to lower fees, greater privacy, and a user-first experience. This approach aligns with Bitcoin’s foundational principles of self-sovereignty, censorship resistance, and privacy.
Vaulta CEO Yves La Rose echoed this commitment to user empowerment. “Self-custody is the bedrock of Bitcoin DeFi,” he said, stressing that user control must remain uncompromised as developers build the next financial layers.
Joseph Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Unchained—a firm that began as a collaborative custody multisig provider and now offers a broader suite of digital financial products—reinforced the importance of user autonomy. “Clients hold two of the three keys in our multisig vaults, ensuring they have unilateral control to move funds at any time,” he said, positioning collaborative custody as a counter to the rent-seeking practices of legacy finance.
Rich Rines, an early contributor to Core DAO, captured the broader sentiment by framing the current moment as one of convergence between security and innovation. “Bitcoin is a store of value today, but the next wave is utility,” he said.
RootstockLabs’ Adrián Eidelman views Bitcoin DeFi as a powerful instrument for economic empowerment, particularly in countries grappling with inflation and capital restrictions. “We’re seeing it in places like Argentina, where people turn to dollar-backed stablecoins to protect themselves from local currency devaluation. But the real collateral behind it all is Bitcoin—and that’s fueling a new wave of adoption,” he explained.
From the voices on stage to the builders creating new pathways, there’s a shared conviction: Bitcoin is no longer just digital gold—it’s the foundation of a new financial system.
