Social Network , the novel Bitcoin Layer 2 staking protocol, announced the launch of its testnet staking protocol earlier this week. Following the testnet launch, users on the platform can stake unlimited BTC in non-custodial wallets, and enjoy instant withdrawals, while maintaining the decentralization properties that Satoshi envisioned. Social Network was launched to offer a more scalable, cost-efficient and environmentally friendly staking platform to BTC users, a move that unlocks the potential of decentralized finance on the blockchain.
The Layer 2 Bitcoin-based project will greatly reduce the high transaction fees on Bitcoin and data storage demands, enabling BTC staking to scale, without the environmental concerns and high energy consumption rates that its parent chain faces.
This testnet launched amidst a flurry of activity across the Bitcoin ecosystem, with institutions now able to buy the newly approved exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which set the coin on a two-year high, nearly breaching the $ 50,000 mark. The Bitcoin ETFs have been a watershed moment for the cryptocurrency space, with several billions already invested into the asset. In the short period, since January 11, Bitcoin ETFs have amassed over $27 billion, eclipsing silver ETFs and setting targets for the value invested in gold ETFs, currently at $90 billion.
In addition to launching the testnet, Social Network also announced the launch of its official whitepaper . According to the whitepaper, the fully decentralised and non-custodial BTC staking project will reward stakers with 369 $HEART, Social Network’s Bitcoin, for every satoshi staked. By offering staking capabilities on Bitcoin, the project aims to scale Bitcoin’s ecosystem to “build the infrastructure and new incentives for decentralized social networks on Earth”, the team statement reads.
Social Network Launches Early Incentive Program
Following partnerships with major crypto players such as ChainSafe, Halborn Security, Threefold, BloxRoute and LaunchNodes, Social Network will offer users better security for their assets, via non-custodial wallets, presenting a secure and robust solution for direct BTC staking. This will create a new native yield for BTC holders who do not wish to ‘wrap’ their assets – on an open-source, fair-launched platform. The platform had no early VC participation in funding rounds or a presale.
For early stakers on Taproot Farms, Social Network will be offering an exclusive Bitcoin Ordinals mint. The top testnet contributors will receive a free Bitcoin Ordinals NFT, in an effort to increase participation in the early stages of the platform. To prevent the high data congestion caused by Ordinals, Social Network will increase demand for using Bitcoin to store additional information, as seen with Bitcoin Ordinals, by connecting the Nostr decentralized social networking protocol to Bitcoin and enabling large-scale linked data storage in a decentralized manner. This is expected to solve the high fees as well as reduce congestion.
