Bitcoin Is Now Live on Router Nitro
Bringing Seamless Cross-Chain Connectivity to BTC!
We are thrilled to announce that Bitcoin is now live on Router Nitro, our cross-chain bridge! This milestone enables users to swap any asset from the Ethereum chain to BTC on the Bitcoin network and BTC from the Bitcoin network to WBTC on the Ethereum chain!
Start now: https://app.routernitro.com/swap?toChain=bitcoin&toToken=0xeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
If you’re going from Ethereum to Bitcoin, use any EVM-compatible wallet. And when you’re going from Bitcoin to Ethereum, use XDEFI wallet for the best experience.
Bitcoin has always held a special place in the world of Web3 — a fortress of value, resilience, and community strength. Now, Bitcoin can truly connect with the Web3 ecosystem through Nitro, our cross-chain bridge, bringing BTC into a world of faster, trustless interoperability.
The fact that Bitcoin is often used interchangeably with terms like Web3, crypto, or blockchain speaks volumes — it is undeniably the king! This king brought the idea of democracy from the pages of politics to our financial systems.
Bitcoin is the 21st-century gold, completely changing our understanding of money and value. Yet, much like reaching a king, achieving seamless interoperability with Bitcoin is a big challenge. We still do not have super-fast, super-efficient Bitcoin bridges, ways to use Bitcoin security in other L2s/L1s easily, or even scratched the surface of what Bitcoin can offer the world of Web3.
Cracking this problem is a necessity, the future of web3 depends on it! Not saying Bitcoin needs the rest of Web3 — it’s more of a case of why Web3 needs Bitcoin! Bitcoin, in itself, is independently strong enough to exist, flourish, and grow. The infrastructure of Bitcoin is underutilized right now — it can do so much more.
The Next Step for Bitcoin
Bitcoin’s legacy as digital gold is indisputable; its proof-of-work mechanism, capped supply, and decentralized governance make it a paragon of stability in a volatile world. However, its non-programmable design and isolated infrastructure have kept Bitcoin separate from the vast universe of smart-contract-enabled chains. This gap has kept Bitcoin siloed, limiting its use cases within the broader Web3 landscape, where chains are increasingly interoperable.
What Vitalik took to Twitter in 2020 is still relevant.
Besides, we all know for Web3 to grow, it needs Bitcoin’s unparalleled stability and immense liquidity to become a foundational element in DeFi protocols, non-custodial wallets, and beyond. We need to open new possibilities for developers, platforms, and users alike.
Let’s see how Router Nitro is doing that -
How Router Nitro Powers Bitcoin’s Cross-Chain Journey
Router Nitro is designed to bridge non-smart contract chains like Bitcoin with EVM-compatible networks, maintaining both speed and security. Here’s how the process works:
Bitcoin to EVM Flow
- The user deposits the funds (BTC) on the forwarder address along with a memo. Memo contains the details of which chain the funds should be sent to and how many tokens the user is expecting on the destination side.
- The forwarder and orchestrators monitor the transactions on this address.
- As soon as the funds are sent from the user to this address, they do the following actions -
- Forwarder decodes the memo data and calls the contract on the destination chain to transfer the required funds (wBTC) to the user
- Orchestrators vote on this transaction data and send the information to Nitro’s middleware contract
- Once the forwarder completes the transaction on the destination side, the destination Nitro contract emits an event, which the orchestrators listen to. They vote on it, and then the data is sent to the Nitro middleware contract.
- Nitro’s middleware contract verifies the data of the Bitcoin (source) and the destination and makes sure that the forwarder has completed the transaction as the user intended.
EVM to Bitcoin Flow
- Users deposit funds (wBTC) on the source chain contract with the intention to transfer them to the Bitcoin chain. The contract emits an event with the details of the transaction.
- Our forwarders and orchestrators listen to the event. They perform the following action as soon as they receive the event -
- Forwarder transfers BTC from its Bitcoin wallet to the user’s address
- Orchestrators vote on this event and send the information to Nitro’s middleware contract
- Once the forwarder completes the transaction on the Bitcoin side, the orchestrators that are monitoring the forwarder’s address get the details of the transfer. They decode the memo, transfer data, and vote on it.
The data is then sent to the Nitro middleware contract. - Nitro’s middleware contract verifies the data of the source chain and the destination chain (Bitcoin) and makes sure that the forwarder has completed the transaction as the user intended.
This architecture bypasses centralized custodians, ensuring that users can securely interact with Bitcoin across chains without losing control over their assets or compromising decentralization.
A Trustless Future for Bitcoin
Bitcoin’s journey has been anything but easy. From its humble beginnings as a misunderstood “geek experiment” to Bitcoin Pizza Day, to becoming the first approved ETF, Bitcoin has grown through regulatory challenges, market skepticism, and even internal conflicts like the infamous Bitcoin Civil War. Critics like Warren Buffett have called it a bubble, and security breaches on major exchanges fueled doubts.
Yet, despite all the skepticism and setbacks, Bitcoin endured and proved its worth, standing tall as the bedrock of decentralized finance. Today, Router Protocol’s Nitro bridge takes Bitcoin a step further, enabling secure, trustless transfers between Bitcoin and Ethereum networks.
But that’s just the beginning. Our roadmap includes adding more chains and Router is also developing a solution that will enable users to seamlessly transfer BTC from Bitcoin to any token on other chains. This means that, in upcoming upgrades, users will be able to buy any token they want using Bitcoin.
