Avalanche Bridge Launches Native Bitcoin Support; AVAX Surges 7.4%

The AVAX token is beginning to gain some upside momentum despite a drop-off in DeFi activity.

AccessTimeIconJun 23, 2022 at 1:12 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 5:38 p.m. UTC
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Smart contracts platform Avalanche added support for native bitcoin (BTC) in its cross-chain bridge, according to a blog post.

  • The network's native token, AVAX, surged 7.4%, outperforming bitcoin and ether (ETH), which are up 0.64% and 2.34%, respectively.
  • The addition allows users to bridge native bitcoin and gain exposure to Avalanche's DeFi ecosystem by using the newly launched 'Core' wallet.
  • The BTC pool on AVAX-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Platypus has $11.7 million in total value locked (TVL) and offers yields of between 23.72% and 62.84%.
  • A BTC.b to AVAX pool has also opened up on rival platform TraderJoe with yields of 17.5%.
  • The Avalanche bridge launched last August, supporting transfers of ERC20 tokens between the Ethereum and Avalanche networks.
  • There is currently $2.68 billion in TVL across the Avalanche ecosystem, according to DefiLlama, which marks an $11 billion drop from December as the DeFi sector recedes amid concerns over lending protocols.
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    Oliver Knight

    Oliver Knight is a CoinDesk reporter based between London and Lisbon. He does not own any crypto.


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