Network Hemi, supported by Binance Labs, has recently launched its mainnet with a total value locked (TVL) of an astounding $440 million. Hemi, the brainchild of early Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik, aims to bring together Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two most established and largest blockchains, into a unified “super network”. This exciting development was revealed in a recent press release.
The Hemi project is built atop both Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains, leveraging the best attributes of each. It utilizes the robust security infrastructure of Bitcoin and exploits Ethereum’s flexibility in programming. The project managed to secure $15 million in a funding round led by Binance Labs in the previous year.
The initiative is among several others that seek to revolutionize the overall blockchain sector. Specifically, it aims to reshape the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape by integrating Bitcoin and Ethereum. This is largely due to the immense value stored in Bitcoin (BTC), which significantly surpasses that of all other digital assets combined.
However, the coding structure of Bitcoin does not inherently support some of the essential DeFi functions, such as smart contracts or zero-knowledge proofs. This necessitates bridging this functionality gap from Ethereum. In line with this, Hemi has already enlisted several protocols for deployment, including the decentralized exchange (DEX) Sushi, the liquid staking token pumpBTC, and oracles RedStone and Pyth.
