Velar and Bitlayer introduce Bitcoin's first perpetual DEX

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Bitcoin-focused infrastructure provider Velar announced a partnership with Bitlayer to launch Velar Artha, the first perpetual decentralized exchange (Perp DEX) on a Bitcoin layer-2. This development enables perpetual contracts trading directly on the Bitcoin blockchain, enhancing its decentralized finance (DeFi) capabilities.

“Partnering with Bitlayer for the launch of Velar Artha PerpDEX represents a significant milestone for the entire Bitcoin ecosystem,” said Mithil Thakore, CEO of Velar. “Charlie Hu and I share a common vision for Bitcoin’s potential as the foundation for a new financial infrastructure and I couldn’t be more excited to work with someone who truly understands and shares that vision. Together, we are not just building products, but paving the way for the future of finance on Bitcoin.”

Bitlayer’s layer-2 is powered by BitVM, an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible layer that can be used to deploy decentralized applications while maintaining Bitcoin’s security. Velar Artha will enable leveraged trading on various assets, including BTC, unlocking billions in idle Bitcoin capital for DeFi participation without custodial risk.

The Bitcoin DeFi narrative is heating up this year, surpassing $1 billion in total value locked after a 243% year-to-date growth.

Meanwhile, despite a slow May, the decentralized derivatives sector showed a crescent in trading volume in the same period, registering an all-time high of nearly $317 billion in March. This new partnership between Bitlayer and Velar might attract some of this volume.

“Bitlayer aims to build a new Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem with a native layer 2 solution that offers Bitcoin-equivalent security through the BitVM approach,” added Bitlayer co-founder Charlie Yechuan Hu. “The integration of Velar on Bitlayer is a significant development for the DeFi space, exploring the asymmetric opportunities within the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem. Bitlayer is excited to support Velar’s perpetual DEX DeFi product to meet the on-chain perpetual trading demand in the Bitcoin community.”

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