Nansen Expands to Bitcoin Layer 2, Will Provide Analytics for Bitlayer

Blockchain data provider Nansen said it will provide analytics to Bitcoin layer-2 Bitlayer, marking its first expansion into this ecosystem.

Nansen, which allows users to see what’s happening in blockchain networks in real time, aims to pave the way for more efficient decision-making in Bitcoin layer 2s empowered by the insights its data and analytics provide, according to an emailed announcement on Monday.

Bitlayer, which raised $11 million in funding led by Franklin Templeton in July, is based on the BitVM computing paradigm, aimed at facilitating Ethereum-style smart contracts on Bitcoin.

Provision for smart contracts, which are a key pillar of networks like Ethereum but have been largely absent on Bitcoin throughout its history, allows a network to support blockchain innovations in decentralized finance (DeFi) or decentralized apps (dApps).

BitVM would require a separate auxiliary network atop Bitcoin to handle the volume of transactions, while harnessing the main network’s security.

Bitcoin accounts for nearly 60% of the total value of the digital asset market, meaning it is comfortably bigger than every other network put together. Thus, the possibility of Ethereum-style decentralized projects on Bitcoin could unleash liquidity value and liquidity that no other ecosystem can currently come close to matching.

Bitlayer’s mainnet launched in April, since when there has been 280 projects deployed on it with a combined value of nearly $300 million, according to Monday’s announcement.

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