PANews reported on June 5th that, according to Coindesk, Mike Novogratz's digital asset financial services company Galaxy and 16 other institutions, including crypto custodian Fireblocks, will become node operators for the Bitcoin Layer 2 network Botanix. These operators have completed access preparations and will be ready to operate once the Botanix mainnet launches later this quarter. Botanix Labs aims to ensure the network's decentralized nature from the initial stage by forming a node alliance composed of diverse entities. The network plans to transition to a dynamic alliance model in the future, ultimately enabling any global user to run a Botanix node. Other institutions joining the alliance include blockchain development platform Alchemy, Bitcoin mining pool Antpool, and hedge fund UTXO Management.
Botanix's testnet Aragog has launched a series of DeFi basic tools, including BTC-collateralized stablecoin Palladium, decentralized exchange Bitzy, and lending market Spindle. Its Spiderchain protocol is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), theoretically allowing Ethereum smart contracts and DeFi applications to run directly on the Bitcoin network.
