Maestro teams up with ICP to bring Ordinals & Runes to cross-chain Bitcoin DeFi

Bitcoin DeFi infrastructure startup Maestro is collaborating with the Internet Computer Protocol to enable native, trustless access to Ordinals and Runes data for next-generation financial applications. Armed with a grant from the DFINITY Foundation, Maestro intends to create a native Bitcoin metaprotocol indexer that supports the trustless validation of Bitcoin assets like Ordinals and Runes within ICP-based DeFi applications. The new indexer is said to be a vital new infrastructure building block for Bitcoin DeFi developers, paving the way for seamless, collateralised cross-chain loans without relying on third-party custodians or vulnerable blockchain bridges. Maestro and ICP are natural bedfellows for such an initiative. The former is a leading blockchain infrastructure platform that provides scalable application programming interfaces, data services, and indexing solutions for developers building Bitcoin-based DeFi applications. Meanwhile, ICP has built a sophisticated Bitcoin integration that enables Internet Computer-based smart contracts, known as “Canisters”, to directly hold, send, and receive BTC assets by utilising its proprietary Chain Fusion technology, streamlining the way Bitcoin communicates with other blockchains. ICP’s Bitcoin integration supports some of the most popular DeFi applications in use today, including the BTC lending protocol Liquidium , the Bitcoin asset hub Omnity, and the Bitcoin memecoin trading platform Odin.Fun. Ordinals and Runes are new Bitcoin protocols that have attracted a lot of interest in the community, enabling users to create new kinds of digital assets on the world’s original blockchain platform, extending its utility. In the case of Ordinals , they enable data to be inscribed on individual satoshis, transforming them into non-fungible tokens on Bitcoin. Meanwhile, Runes are used to create fungible tokens on Bitcoin, which can be used for Bitcoin-based memecoins or NFTs. They offer greater flexibility and more scalability than Ordinals by encoding metadata directly into BTC transactions. Maestro’s new open-source Indexer is designed to support the validation of Ordinals and Runes directly within ICP Canisters , which are more advanced smart contracts that combine both code and data. In addition to providing all of the capabilities of traditional smart contracts, Canisters also support operating system processes and WebAssembly module instances, meaning they can be used to create secure messaging applications or facilitate decentralized token exchanges. For Bitcoin DeFi developers, the Indexer is a welcome development because trustless validation of Ordinals and Runes can help them to build more secure and reliable applications without bridges or intermediaries, which are some of the biggest vulnerabilities in the ecosystem today. It will support the creation of more efficient apps, such as Liquidium’s cross-chain loans. With Liquidium, users will be able to deposit Ordinal and Rune-based assets as collateral on the Bitcoin blockchain in order to borrow USDT based on Ethereum, without wrapping their tokens first, making the whole process much more secure. In fact, the Indexer will support any cross-chain DeFi application that wants a secure way to tap into Bitcoin-based liquidity. “Now we’re able to provide developers with direct, trustless access to Ordinals and Runes data to further enable the massive wave of innovation that relies on Chain Fusion’s unique ability to interact with Bitcoin without bridges or intermediaries,” said DFINITY Foundation Vice President of Growth Lomesh Dutta. Maestro said its Indexer is designed to ensure the utmost reliability, with enterprise-grade features such as mempool-awareness for faster responsiveness and security against blockchain reorganisations. Maestro co-founder and CEO Marvin Bertin said the Indexer is a necessary development that will strengthen ICP’s infrastructure by supporting the safe integration of Ordinals and Runes with Bitcoin DeFi. “This partnership further strengthens ICP’s lead in the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem and unlocks new functionality for users,” he added. The post Maestro teams up with ICP to bring Ordinals & Runes to cross-chain Bitcoin DeFi appeared first on Invezz

Source: Invezz