- Citrea launches Bitcoin ZK-rollup mainnet with DeFi capabilities.
- Mainnet offers BTC-backed lending and native ctUSD stablecoin.
- Galvanizes debate on Bitcoin block space and fee revenue strategies.
The Bitcoin ZK-rollup project Citrea, backed by Founders Fund and Galaxy Ventures, launched its mainnet on January 29, featuring DeFi lending with Bitcoin collateral and a native stablecoin.
Citrea’s launch sparks debate over Bitcoin’s role in DeFi and its impact on miner fee revenue, with initial liquidity expected to reach $50 million.
Citrea Launch Pioneers Bitcoin ZK-Rollup for DeFi
The launch introduces ctUSD, a stablecoin issued by MoonPay, pegged 1:1 to cash and U.S. Treasuries. Featuring on-chain liquidity of $50 million, this innovation aims to reduce bridge risks and fragmentation by maintaining a native framework within Citrea’s ecosystem. According to the Citrea Team, “Today, Citrea Mainnet Goes Live 🍊🍋… We are officially live with the first Bitcoin application layer that enables institutions and individuals to lend, trade, and settle directly on the Bitcoin Network.”
Bitcoin’s block space debate reignites, as Citrea utilizes substantial data availability, previously consuming 10% of Bitcoin’s bandwidth on testnet. Proponents view it as harnessing Bitcoin’s potential, while critics emphasize legacy payment models’ importance.
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Impact on Bitcoin’s Market and Technological Landscape
Did you know? During Citrea’s testnet phase, its data usage significantly contributed to Bitcoin’s monthly bandwidth, consuming around 10%, highlighting potential impacts on Bitcoin’s ecosystem if current trends continue.
Based on CoinMarketCap data, Bitcoin (BTC) holds a price of $87,864.50, sustaining a market cap of $1.76 trillion. With dominance at 59.04%, Bitcoin’s price shows a 24-hour decline of 2.4% and a 90-day reduction of 20.34%.
Bitcoin(BTC), daily chart, screenshot on CoinMarketCap at 14:08 UTC on January 29, 2026. Source: CoinMarketCap
Coincu experts assert that Citrea’s mainnet launch could strategically realign Bitcoin in DeFi, despite regulatory challenges. As block subsidies decline, new models supporting transaction fee revenue are vital, impacting both economic and technological Bitcoin landscapes.
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Source: https://coincu.com/news/citrea-bitcoin-zk-rollup-defi/
