2025
The Rootstock network is developed and maintained by a decentralized ecosystem of independent core developers and entities.
Q1 2025
Making Rootstock the most accessible Bitcoin layer
Lovell Upgrade
The Lovell Network Upgrade sets a new milestone for Rootstock, strengthening the foundation for building more advanced and scalable decentralized applications on Rootstock. Lovell brings to mainnet enhanced consensus efficiency, upgraded smart contract capabilities, and improved tooling for better development experience on Bitcoin’s most secure layer.
Q1 2025Multichain rBTC viaLayerZero and Stargate
The integration of LayerZero is a fundamental step towards the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin. For the first time, Rootstock users can move their BTC across different ecosystems without complicated bridges, high fees, or slow transactions. LayerZero, the leading cross-chain messaging protocol, enables interoperability between blockchains, unlocking seamless movement of Rootstock’s Bitcoin-backed assets across 100+ blockchains.
Q1 2025Gas Fees Reduction Mechanism
The Rootstock network becomes significantly more affordable for users and developers, allowing them to interact with Bitcoin DeFi on Rootstock and encouraging greater innovation and usage. Thanks to the Bitcoin miners who merge-mine Rootstock, the minimum gas price per transaction is reduced by 60%, paving the way for mainstream adoption of BTCFi.
Q1 2025Q2 2025
Expanding BTCFi on Rootstock
Bitcoin-native Liquid Staking
Rootstock unlocks liquid staking for its retail and institutional users with the integration of Bedrock and Solv Finance— two leading protocols in the liquid staking space. These ecosystem additions empower users to access yield-generating opportunities without sacrificing liquidity while remaining anchored to Bitcoin’s PoW security.
Q2 2025Sustainable, CompetitiveBTCFi Yield
Rootstock’s institution-ready ecosystem unlocks BTCFi opportunities via Rootstock-native DeFi protocols, empowering diversified strategies and organic returns. rBTC, Rootstock’s programmable BTC, ensures full asset control with zero lock-up on Bitcoin’s native consensus security..
Q2 2025Q3 2025
Institutional-grade security and ecosystem
BTCFi lending via Avalon
Avalon’s DeFi lending platform enables native Bitcoin-backed lending, unlocking new capital efficiency for retail users and institutions. This marks a key step in expanding Bitcoin DeFi on Rootstock, allowing users to borrow, lend, and earn yield securely on Bitcoin’s most secure layer.
Q3 2025Seamless access to rBTCvia the Rootstock Bridge
Rootstock’s Bridge is a powerful aggregator that brings together the most trusted bridging and swapping options for rBTC into one seamless experience. The new bridge enhances user onboarding by aggregating all the native and third-party routes for converting any asset to rBTC and other ecosystem tokens.
Q3 2025Reed Network upgrade
The Reed network upgrade activates the Segwit PowPeg, increasing the number of the Powpeg’s pegnatories and reducing the cost of BTC peg-outs by 60%. This marks a major step towards further decentralizing the PowPeg bridge and Rootstock itself, strengthening its alignment with Bitcoin’s core principles.
Q3 2025Trust-minimized bridging onTestnet with Union Bridge
Union is a third-generation, trust-minimized, and verifiable bridge, using BitVMX technology to connect Bitcoin and Rootstock. The Testnet launch ensures the security, interoperability and performance of the bridge and allows the Rootstock community to interact with Union before the Mainnet activation at the end of the year.
Q3 2025Parallel Transaction Executionand Block Time Reduction(testnet)
Parallel Transaction Execution and Block Time Reduction significantly enhance Rootstock’s scalability and performance. By reducing transaction latency and network congestion, Rootstock enables faster transaction processing for optimized DeFi and dApp usage to support its growing user demand.
Q3 2025Q4 2025
Securing the future of BTCFi
Vetiver Network Upgrade
The Vetiver network upgrade paves the way for bringing Union, a trust-minimized bridge between Bitcoin and Rootstock, to mainnet. Vetiver activates the consensus changes needed for Union to operate on mainnet via Rootstock’s bridge aggregator. It also introduces new, precompiled contracts for a more scalable and secure Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem, including faster block times and improved network efficiency.
Q4 2025Union Bridge: A Breakthroughfor Bitcoin DeFi
The launch of Union Bridge marks a groundbreaking moment for Bitcoin DeFi, introducing the first trust-minimized bridge between Bitcoin and Rootstock. Built on BitVMX, Union sets a new industry standard by relying on a 1-of-n honest assumption. This innovation finally makes it possible to move BTC into DeFi without compromising on Bitcoin’s core security principles, unlocking a new era of DeFi built directly on Bitcoin.
Q4 2025Vaulted rBTC on Bitcoin’s PoW
Vaulted rBTC is a composable yield vault designed for institutional and retail Bitcoin investors, offering sustainable, protocol-native BTC yield. Built for long-term viability, Vaulted rBTC is a “one-stop-shop” for yield access on Rootstock, enabling diverse strategies for BTC holders while staying anchored to Bitcoin’s PoW security.
Q4 2025