Ethereum – among other EVM-powered chains – are the bedrock of almost all DeFi, NFT projects, dapps, and web3 developments. However, one company is hoping to change that by bringing NFTs and dapps to the Bitcoin network.
Okcoin, a cryptocurrency exchange, is teaming up with the Stacks Accelerator and Stacks Foundation to launch Bitcoin Odyssey, a grant program with $165 million in funding designed to introduce Web3 elements to Bitcoin.
The Bitcoin Odyssey initiative is co-chaired by Kyle Ellicott, a partner at Stacks Accelerator, and Alex Chizhik, head of listings at Okcoin. The initiative will also receive assistance from other organizations in the blockchain industry – namely from investors such as Digital Currency Group, GSR, and White Star Capital, who are participating in the fund. They will allocate funds and resources to projects based on Stacks.
The capital will be used to develop solutions across web3, including metaverses, play-to-earn games, decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Additionally, the fund will help create CityCoins such as MiamiCoins that use the Stacks protocol.
Stacks, a blockchain network that brings smart contracts and DeFi to Bitcoin, caught the attention of investors last year when a 12-year-old boy sold out an NFT collection in less than an hour. This January, Stacks debuted its next-gen mainnet, a step towards developing new use cases for the Bitcoin network.
Following the news about the Bitcoin Odyssey, the price of $STX.X jumped 70% to $1.89 but fell back to $1.42.
The funding will help open bitcoin-flavored doors in the world of DeFi and NFTs. However, it is hard to discern what impact these projects will have on an ecosystem already dominated by Ethereum and Ethereum alternatives. Furthermore, the initiative doesn’t elaborate on how it will resolve existing blockchain network problems such as congestion, gas fees, and environmental impacts.