IntroductionBitcoin’s immense liquidity and security have long made it the cornerstone of crypto, yet true decentralized finance (DeFi) for Bitcoin has lagged behind due to its limited scripting capabilities. Cardano, a blockchain built on a similarly robust UTXO model but with advanced smart contracts, is stepping up to unlock Bitcoin’s potential in DeFi. In 2025, Input Output Global (IOG) – the development firm behind Cardano – revealed a framework to bring Bitcoin DeFi onto the Cardano blo...

IntroductionBitcoin’s immense liquidity and security have long made it the cornerstone of crypto, yet true decentralized finance (DeFi) for Bitcoin has lagged behind due to its limited scripting capabilities. Cardano, a blockchain built on a similarly robust UTXO model but with advanced smart contracts, is stepping up to unlock Bitcoin’s potential in DeFi. In 2025, Input Output Global (IOG) – the development firm behind Cardano – revealed a framework to bring Bitcoin DeFi onto the Cardano blo...