.@BitcoinLayers is implementing a minimum standard to be considered a bitcoin layer.

Merlin Chain, Bsquared Network, Core, Bitlayer, BOB, Rollux, BEVM, Libre, and Fractal do not currently meet these standards, and will be moved to the alternative chains category if changes are not made by June 30th. Projects now must be bitcoin native or bitcoin sidesystems to be considered bitcoin layers.

All bitcoin layers must have at minimum an official, federated two-way peg and operator set where operators are disclosed.

Additionally, we define the sidesystem category as blockchains that meet one or more of the following:

-are BTC-denominated
-are secured by native $BTC
-rely on bitcoin for consensus
-rely on bitcoin for transaction finalization
-support interactions with L1 scripts or PSBTs

Bitcoin native protocols are those by which users can exit the system unilaterally. Statechains, Arks, and the Lightning Network can provide this to users.

Some use cases warrant sidesystem designs. Others, bitcoin native.

Still, the ecosystem should hold projects more accountable for shortcomings related to security and trust-minimization.

Our work is to ensure users are informed about the trust assumptions related to the use of $BTC in offchain environments. This call to action is the first step towards pushing projects to improve their designs and make their systems more secure for users.