Ark Labs Launches Arkade: Boosting Bitcoin’s Layer 2 Capabilities

Ark Labs Launches Arkade, a New Bitcoin Layer 2 on Public Beta

The Ark Labs launched Arkade on public beta on the Bitcoin mainnet, the first Bitcoin layer 2 solution since the Lightning Network. The new layer 2 solution aims to make the BTC network programmable, faster, and scalable without compromising security.

The official X ( formerly Twitter) post described the new launch as ‘Open financial infrastructure designed for the era of programmable money’. The launch comes after two years of painstaking efforts. 

Why the New Launch of Off-Chain VTXOs Matters?

Through the new launch, the Arkade has created off-chain Virtual Transaction Outputs (VTXOs) representing the Unspent Transaction Outputs (UTXOs). The UTXOs are called digital change; they are a piece of digital currency you received but have not spent.

Moreover, balance is stored as UTXOs instead of single numbers in the BTC network. Each UTXO is completely spent during a transaction, and the remaining becomes another smaller UTXO, making it uneconomical to transact due to higher fees. The off-chain VTXOs tries to address these on-chain limitations of higher fees and limited scalability within the BTC layer 1 ecosystem. The Bitcoin mainnet has security and decentralization at its core, but the deprioritization of the high transaction throughput has provided an opportunity for other networks, such as Ethereum, to thrive.

The newly launched Layer 2 solution aims to make the network programmable, opening a wide array of opportunities while offering the advanced security of the BTC chain. The VTXOs enable the developers to make decentralized apps(dapps), such as smart wallets, within the BTC ecosystem. The launch also included Arkade Assets, a framework to bring stablecoins to the network. 

The Community Response Remains Mixed Towards the Launch

Amid the claims, some of the crypto users are also concerned as they believe that the new launch is bringing centralizing tendencies and involves technical complexities. Yet others believe that innovative solutions within the BTC ecosystem are the need of the hour, as it is falling behind newer entrants in terms of speed and programmability. Nevertheless, the prioritization of security has made BTC achieve a safe-haven status during its heyday.

Currently, BTC is having a rough time amid the heightened macro pressure created by ongoing political instability, with the ongoing U.S. government shutdown and the ‘no king’ protests sweeping across the streets. 

How is BTC Performing Amid the Increasing Macro Uncertainties?

The world’s largest cryptocurrency is trading around $108,210.77 at press time. The market cap touched 2.15 trillion. The sluggish run was largely attributed to aggressive shorts betting by whales, and the failure of  BTC to hold $113k support level.

The current bitcoin price is below the 10-day Exponential Moving Average. The traders are closely watching whether the token can hold the next Fibannoci support level $106,490. Despite the bearish sentiments, the BTC ETFs saw a net inflow of $477.20 million, showing that their fundamentals remain strong. Nevertheless, the overall crypto market is grappling with macro uncertainties, putting crypto traders on a tightrope. 

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