Badger DAO: Bringing Bitcoin to DeFi

Hardcore Bitcoin holders have largely avoided using DeFi on Ethereum due to their “not your keys not your coins” philosophy. As a result, just under 1% of all BTC has been ported to Ethereum primarily due to the risks and difficulties of trustlessly bridging BTC from the Bitcoin blockchain to Ethereum.

While less maximalist Bitcoiners are happy to take counterparty risk to earn single digit APYs on centralized platforms such as BlockFi, Celsius and Nexo, the double- and triple-digit returns available in Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem have largely been ignored.

Bringing Bitcoin to DeFi

Badger DAO was formed in 2020 with the simple intention of creating a “one-stop one-click” app to get Bitcoin to work in DeFi. The community-driven DAO is focused on enabling Bitcoin holders to earn high APYs on other blockchains, rather than relying on centralized platforms which expose them to counterparty risk.

Different versions of BTC on Ethereum have been multiplying and growing apace, with much of this capital staked in DEXs such as Curve. At its current pace, TVL in ERC-20 BTC would double by the end of the year.

However, anyone making the jump from Bitcoin to Ethereum is currently faced with immature and often centralized infrastructure. For now DeFi for Bitcoin is limited to various suboptimal wrapping solutions and few trusted lending/borrowing protocols. With a TAM of more than $1 trillion, bringing BTC to Ethereum trustlessly is a massive opportunity that may provide ample rewards for whatever protocol successfully achieves this.