Black cat or white cat, the premise is that you must truly be a cat. Zongguanxian is a temporary band formed in 2008 by Lo Ta-yu, Jonathan Lee, Wakin Chau, and Chang Chen-yue. They have a song called "Outlaws," which I absolutely love. When I was young, I didn’t really know what I liked. Maybe it was just the phrase "outlaws"—it felt so cool. As I grew older, I began to slowly understand the meaning of the lyrics. Let’s dive in! ⬇️ “ When the sound of cars roars, dreams begin to ache. It stirs up the wind, reshaping every face. The night fog is so thick, vast yet turbulent. There’s a premonition that the end of the road is a maze. ” This perfectly encapsulates my feelings about today’s Bitcoin ecosystem. One round of BTC Layer 2, one round of BTCFi, interspersed with inscriptions, runes, and Ordinals NFTs. We were once truly lively, always dominating media headlines. But after BTC hit historical highs, ETFs flooded in from traditional capital, and Bitcoin ecosystem projects issued tokens, the entire industry fell into a void and silence? Hello, sheep herders? You didn’t really create so many stories and terms just to issue tokens, then sail off on yachts with models, leaving me waiting for a high-speed train by the seaside, did you? No way, right? So, I started reorganizing Bitcoin ecosystem projects and tracking team dynamics on @RootDataCrypto. When I filtered Bitcoin Ecosystem - Layer 2 - Single Chain, guess how many results came up? The answer is 77. That means there are 77 Bitcoin Layer 2 single chains, of which 15 are marked as "soon"—about to launch—and 4 are on testnets. Rootdata has an interesting feature: each project comes with a one-sentence description. I laughed out loud reading them: every project has its own definition and understanding of BTC Layer 2. I even saw BTC Layer 2.5... This brings up an old topic that has been debated for years: how do we define BTC Layer 2? To this day, BTC Layer 2 is closer to a marketing term. Black cat or white cat, catching mice makes it a good cat. But still, you must truly be a cat, right? The current reality is that we haven’t even defined what a cat is. With questions in mind, I looked at projects one by one. I originally wanted to write an article about my understanding of BTC Layer 2. Well, someone already wrote it, and it’s brilliant. That person is Kein @kevinliub, a core contributor to GOAT Network @GOATRollup. Kevin wrote a piece titled "Benchmark Proposal for Bitcoin Native Layer 2 Networks: Establishing Community Standards for Authenticity and Trust." When I first saw it, I thought he was teaching me how to do things and setting standards for the industry. But actually, he wasn’t. He was sincere, objective, rational, and restrained. In fact, he issued an invitation to the industry, suggesting that everyone form a consensus and gradually approach standards, mainly for subsequent collaborative development. Even so, he cautiously divided the proposal into Core Must-Haves and Nice-to-Haves: Core Must-Haves ▰ Trustless settlement on the Bitcoin mainnet ▰ Dispute resolution must anchor to the Bitcoin mainnet ▰ Permissionless forced exit mechanism ▰ Proof-based trust-minimized bridging mechanism ▰ Continuous linearity and resilience Nice-to-Haves ▰ Fast and efficient exit mechanism ▰ Gas mechanism denominated in native BTC ▰ Economic incentive mechanism for honest behavior As a science writer, I believe this proposal is not just a technical blueprint but also a reaffirmation of the Bitcoin community’s values. It reminds us that Bitcoin’s expansion layers should not merely be technical stacks but should embody Bitcoin’s decentralized spirit, serving as a bridge between traditional finance and DeFi. To elaborate, the proposal seeks to return to Bitcoin’s trustless and decentralized spirit, aiming to correct the misuse of terminology and dilution of trust in the current Layer 2 ecosystem. It also provides directional suggestions for technological innovation and community collaboration. GOAT Network, as the practitioner of the proposal, showcases the feasibility and potential of these standards through innovations like BitVM2, decentralized sequencers, and sustainable revenue models. GOAT BitVM2 testnet has just launched. This should be considered the first truly native Bitcoin ZK Rollup project. On Rootdata, their description is "sustainable BTC revenue network," which is indeed fitting. If everything is perfectly implemented, Bitcoin will enter a new phase of "verifiable, highly secure, and genuinely profitable." Achieving Layer 2 computation verification and asset settlement on the Bitcoin mainnet can be summarized in one sentence: GOAT BitVM2’s goals and highlights. So, how is this achieved? Verifiability GOAT Network requires Layer 2 states to anchor to the Bitcoin mainnet every block or every few hours, using zero-knowledge proofs (ZK Proofs) to ensure transparency and verifiability of states, avoiding reliance solely on Merkle roots or multi-signatures. If fraud occurs, it can be directly challenged on the mainnet, ensuring Bitcoin miners verify operations rather than off-chain intermediaries. Security GOAT Network’s developer is ZKM, whose other notable case is @MetisL2. Thus, decentralized sequencers naturally emerge, combined with dual penalty mechanisms and non-custodial bridging. Even if all nodes fail, the exit channel remains open, allowing users to unilaterally exit at any time. Real Revenue Stake BTC or Dogecoin, act honestly, and you can earn incentives. Misbehavior leads to asset reduction. BTC exists as native Gas, maintaining ecosystem consistency while supporting various DeFi applications, providing BTC holders with more extended financial services. // “ Truth is merely decoration in a dark room until absurdity proves it. Only when the light shines can its value be revealed. It’s not decided by anyone. ” The song "Outlaws" ends with these lyrics. Indeed, Kevin’s proposal gives all Bitcoin ecosystem developers and users a topic for discussion. I welcome all kinds of debates and critiques—this is what the Bitcoin ecosystem should look like. But don’t stop at debates. Boldly hypothesize, carefully verify. GOAT Network might set an example for the industry. Let’s wait and see. This is a soft-core science article. Through this piece, you can gain a superficial understanding of the following: ▰ The dilemma of the Bitcoin ecosystem ▰ The BTC Layer 2 standard initiative ▰ "Outlaws" is a great song (not kidding) Author: anymose ｜ A soft-core science writer <End of full text>