Opinion by: Alisia Painter, Chief Operating Officer of Botanix Labs
Without Ethereum, the industry is not present where today in terms of bringing decentralized finances (DEFI) to life, making programmability a key feature of blockchain and proved the value of smart size contracts. The Ethereum Virtual Machine has become a go-to platform for developers, with the largest ecosystem and tooling.
Like Defi’s old age, however, it is worth asking: Is Ethereum the best foundation for the future of modern financial? Well, the answer can be bitcoin only.
With nearly $ 6 billion in the total amount locked in March 2025, the decentralization of Bitcoin, liquidity and resilience position as a natural home for the next onchain finance, and while Ethereum’s flexible explosion was the explosion of the experiment, the same flexibility arrived on trade-offs.
From the weaknesses to the wise contracts we saw in the big-name hacks to the ongoing debates around the scalability, Ethereum’s experimental ethos left cracks in its foundation. Conversely, Bitcoin offers a solid, tested infrastructure in which the Defi can develop and cross the chasm from DeGens to the mainstream adoption.
Ethereum’s contribution and limits
Ethereum is responsible for pioneering what we know defi today. This change and development have served as a test place for what Bitcoin is able to achieve and ultimately achieve. Its programmability has empowered developers to create everything from automatic lending platforms to sophisticated derivatives. These products exist only due to the capabilities of Ethereum’s intelligent contract.
With flexibility became a serious trade-off, and we saw them playing in real-time. Dao Hack in 2016 dried $ 50 million and nearly killed Ethereum in its childhood. The 2022 wormhole exploitation costs $ 325 million in recent years, and the Ronin Bridge Hack lasted $ 620 million.
These are not only bad luck-they are the unpredictable results of Ethereum’s open programmability. Smart contracts are strong, but they are also complicated. The complex breed weakness. Solidity is not only designed with security as the primary consideration.
Recently: Ethereum Researcher Pitches Solution to fix centralization problems, remove MEV
At the same time, the challenges of Ethereum’s scale are increasingly unacceptable.
Network congestion and gas -growing gas fees -a dollar during peak periods effectively locking the average users. Timely users are very well accustomed to the gas fees needed to produce only major swaps during high network congestion. Layer-2 solutions such as optimism and arbitrum have made great development, but they have fragmented liquidity and introduce their own assumptions of trust.
This is not to say that Ethereum has failed. No. As Defi grows older than its experimental phase and becomes more mainstream in global finances, we need to ask if it makes sense to maintain the formation of this foundation or consider a more resilient alternative.
Why bitcoin?
The philosophy of bitcoin design differs in radical. This is not a platform for unlimited experiment; It is a fortress of stability. Conservative development ethos and proof-of-work consensus makes Bitcoin the most safe blockchain. This security translates into trust – a critical component for Defi applications that hold billions -billions of dollars.
Loading is another advantage Bitcoin offer. With a capitalization in the market that Dwarfs Ether’s (Eth), Bitcoin (Btc) is the most liquid cryptocurrency, making it an ideal base layer for the defi. Increasing technologies such as the Bitcoin’s Lightning Network and Sidechain such as Spiderchain has unlocked Bitcoin’s potential for smart contracts, which offers programmability developers needed without sacrificing security or scalability.
Not all bitcoin projects are created equal
Many so-called Bitcoin L2S and sidechains say “Bitcoin native,” which offers applications of the promise of seizure of bitcoin security characteristics.
Let’s set the record directly: many are not really native Bitcoin.
Without pointing out the fingers, these projects often rely on custodial multisig setups, Bitcoin bridges in Ethereum or other chain, and then build rollups above. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this method, and there will be cases that work in the range of assumptions of this trust, this is not the same as being native to Bitcoin.
Real bitcoin L2 is designed directly to Bitcoin, which has tapped liquidity, security and stability – qualities that withstand the test of time. If we want to expand Defi’s capabilities, we should build them in Bitcoin. This is a straightforward question, but one worth re -considered as we see the major players exploring paths that may not be fully aligned with the potential of Bitcoin.
The path forward
The debate should not be framing as Ethereum compared to Bitcoin. That’s a wrong binary. The Ethereum’s initial change approach has become important to proving what is possible, and it remains an important hub of the defi experiment. Bitcoin offers something that Ethereum is not: a foundation that has gained the trust of the wider world of finance.
Users should not choose between security and operating. Bitcoin’s stability is combined with sophisticated financial tools similar to Ethereum’s advocates. Some of the most exciting jobs that are happening today are at this intersection.
For Defi to fulfill its promise to create a fair, open and inclusive financial system, it should be moved beyond its experimental stage. It should be safe that the average people can use it without fear of losing everything in an exploitation. It needs strong enough to support the financial activity in the world. And it requires the kind of institutional trust that Bitcoin achieved only.
The future of finances will be built in Bitcoin not because Ethereum failed but because bitcoin provides the foundation that is financially demanded.
Opinion by: Alisia Painter, Chief Operating Officer of Botanix Labs
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be done as legal or investment advice. The views, attitudes, and opinions expressed here are unique and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of the cointelegraph.
