The Internet Computer (IC), the first web-speed, internet-scale public blockchain, is being developed by the non-profit DFINITY Foundation. Today, the DFINITY Foundation announced the IC’s mainnet integration with Bitcoin, giving the biggest cryptocurrency in the world access to cutting-edge smart contract functionality. Now that blockchain bridges and other third parties are no longer necessary, the Internet Computer can act as a Layer 2 for Bitcoin, allowing smart contracts to hold, send, and receive Bitcoin natively. This gives various DeFi and Web3 apps that want to programme Bitcoin a trustless foundation.

The DFINITY Foundation’s Manu Drijvers, Director of Engineering, explains: “Blockchains are incompatible with one another, much like walled gardens. Apps like DeFi applications, which would profit the most from dealing with Bitcoin, are unable to do so. Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency in the world. The Internet Computer’s integration with Bitcoin is a major game-changer for the sector because it allows for the first time ever the development of DeFi and dapps utilising BTC, as well as the addition of smart contract capability to Bitcoin. We are really eager to observe how programmers use this ground-breaking functionality.”

Source: Prnewswire