In an industry where multichain maximalism has become gospel, a contrarian vision is quietly taking shape: Bitcoin isn’t falling behind—it’s building beneath the surface. And it’s not doing so by jumping across chains or emulating Ethereum’s token jungle. It’s evolving through layers—technically sound, philosophically grounded, and quietly interoperable. According to Killian Rausch, co-founder of Boltz, the future of Bitcoin lies not in the breadth of chains but in the depth of layers. And he may be right.
The Multichain Mirage
For the better part of the last bull run, “multichain” was the holy grail. Ethereum begat Avalanche, which begat Solana, which begat Layer 2s that acted like Layer 1s pretending to be sidechains. Liquidity scattered, bridging hacks skyrocketed, and users ended up needing 12 wallets just to survive.
But while every other protocol fought for attention across dozens of ecosystems, Bitcoin stayed its course. Critics called it slow, outdated, even stagnant. Yet behind the scenes, something more foundational was unfolding. Builders weren’t copying Ethereum; they were rethinking scalability, security, and decentralization from the ground up.
“We focus on Bitcoin layers only. So we want to be cross layer, not cross chain, not cross asset. We stick with Bitcoin because we are a Bitcoin native company. And we want our niche of the market to facilitate atomic swaps between Bitcoin on chain.”
Layers That Actually Talk to Each Other
The heart of Bitcoin’s layer strategy isn’t about expanding for expansion’s sake—it’s about deepening trustless interoperability within its own ecosystem. Boltz, for instance, has spent years perfecting atomic swaps between Bitcoin’s main chain, Lightning Network, Liquid, and Rootstock. This isn’t token-wrapped sleight of hand. It’s true self-custodial bridging—something many multichain dApps only pretend to offer.
“In 2023, we started building it out by saying, OK, we focus on Bitcoin layers only. So we want to be cross layer, not cross chain, not cross asset. We stick with Bitcoin because we are a Bitcoin native company. And we want our niche of the market is to facilitate atomic swaps between Bitcoin on chain”
The result? A fast-growing niche with expanding infrastructure, wallet integrations, and real use cases—none of which compromise Bitcoin’s base layer ethos. The Bitcoin-native approach to interoperability doesn’t mimic Ethereum’s flashy app layer. It empowers Bitcoin to remain money, while still enabling functionality.
No Custody. No KYC. No Compromise.
This philosophy extends beyond architecture and into regulation. In an era where Know-Your-Customer (KYC) mandates are tightening their grip, Boltz has doubled down on staying non-custodial and KYC-free. That’s not a branding stunt—it’s existential.
“If we ever have to KYC users, we’re dead,” Killian said bluntly.
“We actually had KYC in mind from the get-go. We are aware that KYC will kill our business.”
While other platforms scramble to adapt to MiCA in Europe or tiptoe around U.S. enforcement, Bitcoin layer builders like Boltz are taking a page from Bitcoin itself: stay sovereign or fade. By leveraging cryptographic primitives like atomic swaps and carefully choosing their jurisdictions—Boltz is incorporated in El Salvador, not by accident—they’re not just resisting regulatory pressure. They’re future-proofing against it.
This isn’t ideological purity for the sake of it. It’s pragmatic rebellion. It’s the belief that Bitcoin doesn’t need to sacrifice its soul to survive the coming regulatory wave. It just needs to go deeper.
The Rise of Bitcoin’s Layered Renaissance
For the first time in Bitcoin’s history, a credible infrastructure is forming beneath its surface. Lightning has moved from experimental to essential. Liquid and Rootstock are expanding atomic swap routes. And new protocols like BitVM and ARK are paving the way for EVM-compatible rollups and privacy-preserving smart contracts—all anchored to Bitcoin.
“Suddenly, we’re the go-to layer bridge,” Killian said.
“We have a couple of mobile wallets now that use bolts under the hood without the users even knowing that they’re doing anything with boltz.”
This is what makes the multi-layer vision so compelling. It’s not loud. It’s not flashy. It’s not pump-and-dump tokenomics. It’s infrastructure—slow, boring, resilient infrastructure that just works.
And in an industry that seems addicted to hype, maybe that’s exactly what we need more of.
Why It Matters
If Bitcoin can succeed in building a layered financial web that rivals Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem—without custody, without KYC, without compromise—then it changes everything. It offers a parallel future: one not governed by governance tokens and venture-funded DAOs, but by open standards and voluntary participation.
That doesn’t mean Ethereum and others don’t matter. But it does mean the future may be less multichain than we thought—and more multi-layered than we realized.
Bitcoin doesn’t need to be everywhere. It just needs to be everywhere that matters.
