Bitcoin Updates Today: Arkade Paves the Way for Programmable Currency in Bitcoin’s Next Phase

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October 21, 2025 -

Labs has introduced Arkade, a Layer 2 protocol built natively on Bitcoin, aiming to transform the cryptocurrency into a programmable financial ecosystem. The public beta for Arkade, now live on the mainnet, represents the first significant scaling advancement since the Lightning Network launched almost ten years ago, according to the company.

Arkade utilizes

Transaction Outputs (VTXOs)—off-chain analogues of Bitcoin’s native Unspent Transaction Outputs (UTXOs)—to facilitate rapid asset transfers, lending, and trading, all while maintaining Bitcoin’s security standards. The protocol operates fully within Bitcoin’s current security model and does not require any consensus changes. Users keep complete control of their assets via presigned transactions, and Ark Service Providers (ASPs) consolidate thousands of off-chain actions into a single on-chain transaction, significantly reducing fees.

"This marks the start of Bitcoin’s journey as programmable money," stated Marco Argentieri, CEO of Ark Labs. The company highlighted that Arkade’s design eliminates custodial risks and avoids bridge mechanisms, which are often criticized in other Layer 2 solutions that depend on wrapped assets or sidechains.

One of the main breakthroughs is , a framework that broadens the protocol’s capabilities to include stablecoins and other digital tokens. With stablecoins circulating over $200 billion, Bitcoin’s limited programmability has traditionally driven this activity to other networks. Arkade seeks to change this by allowing stablecoin creation and trading directly on Bitcoin.

USDT support is planned for future integration, the company said.

This launch comes after two years of development and $2.5 million in pre-seed investment led by Tim Draper’s firm. Early collaborators include Breez, BTCPayServer, and BullBitcoin, with Lightning Network compatibility through Boltz enabling smooth liquidity exchanges. Argentieri pointed out that Bitcoin’s $2 trillion market value demonstrates its status as "digital gold," but the base layer has limited financial innovation. "Arkade unlocks all of Bitcoin’s capabilities without sacrificing its foundational values," he said.

Although other Bitcoin Layer 2 projects exist—such as Rootstock’s BitVMX—the Arkade team emphasizes that theirs is the first to deliver a functioning mainnet solution. Unlike many rivals, Arkade does not establish separate blockchains or alter Bitcoin’s consensus, instead focusing on virtualizing the transaction layer.

The protocol’s future plans include more advanced scripting, new financial tools, and improved security. Developers can access Arkade’s SDKs in TypeScript, Golang, and Rust, with documentation available.