Citrea launches zk-powered Bitcoin layer 2

Citrea has launched its mainnet and a native stablecoin, marking a major step in bringing zero-knowledge rollups and decentralised finance functionality to the Bitcoin ecosystem.

The Founders Fund- and Galaxy-backed network is designed to support BTC-backed lending and structured products while settling transactions directly on the Bitcoin base layer.

“By bringing Bitcoin-secured financial applications on-chain, the Citrea mainnet enables capital to be deployed, managed, and settled directly within Bitcoin-native markets,”

Said Orkun Kilic, co-founder and chief executive of Chainway Labs.

Citrea said it is developing lending infrastructure with Morpho and Edge Capital’s UltraYield, while working with Keyrock to build BTC-based structured products and other Bitcoin-native applications.

The network batches transactions off-chain, processes them using a zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine and inscribes cryptographic proofs on Bitcoin to enable onchain verification and settlement.

Citrea’s ctUSD stablecoin is issued by MoonPay and powered by M0’s infrastructure, with reserves fully backed by short-term US Treasury bills and cash to meet GENIUS Act requirements.

Chainway Labs raised $14 million in a Series A round in 2024 led by Founders Fund, with participation from Galaxy, Maven11 and other prominent crypto investors.

At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $89,130.13.