Botanix Labs, the team behind the Botanix Bitcoin Layer 2 announced the launch of the Botanix mainnet today, July 1, per a press release shared with The Defiant.

The mainnet is launching with integrations from some familiar faces such as Chainlink and Fireblocks on the infrastructure side, and GMX on the decentralized application (dApp) side.

The launch comes shortly after Botanix’s transition to an independent node-led governance and consensus mechanism, making the network a verifiably decentralized Bitcoin Layer 2 (L2). Some of these node operators include the likes of Galaxy, Fireblocks, and Alchemy. The operator set is made up of 16 node operators at launch, and aims to expand beyond 100 operators in 2026.

Last year, the network raised $11.5 million with participation from well-known crypto VCs, including Polychain Capital and Placeholder Capital.

In addition to its decentralized network, Botanix Labs looks to offer access to trustworthy names in DeFi, such as decentralized exchange GMX, and on-chain money market, Dolomite. The chain’s DeFi scene will also be heavily focused on the incorporation of sBTC, a yield bearing, on-chain Bitcoin token.

The product rollout will feature what is referred to as Bitcoin 2100, an interactive launch campaign where users can get familiar with Botanix’s mainnet, and earn free Bitcoin in the process, with some prize pools reaching as high as 0.5 BTC, or $54,000.

Botanix Labs CEO and co-founder Willem Schroé explained the need for native yield in a Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem to really attract its primary audience — Bitcoiners.

This is accomplished via the network’s stBTC token — 50% of all gas fees go toward the token in order to provide its holders with transparent and native yield solutions.

“Bitcoin DeFi is about to break-out in my opinion…we think the net new users of people who haven’t been in DeFi are Bitcoiners, and a lot of them will probably install Metamask for the first time,” Schroé told The Defiant in an interview.

CoinFlipCanda, the co-founder of GMX, told The Defiant, “We have a tried and tested product we feel very confident bringing forward to bitcoiners…I think we’ve tried to avoid changing too many things and we think there is going to be a huge unlock of bitcoin itself within Bitcoin layer 2s.”

“I think one of the great things with Layer 2s developing on Bitcoin is that there is a real focus on yield, and not just yield, but the actual economic utility of Bitcoin. There is actual utility to what you will be able to do with Bitcoin” he concluded.