Why the next wave of Bitcoin innovation is all about utility
Bitcoin’s (BTC) next evolution isn’t just about price. It’s about potential.
On this week’s episode of The Clear Crypto Podcast, hosts Nathan Jeffay and Gareth Jenkinson sit down with Isabel Foxen Duke, general partner at Unbroken Chain and longtime Bitcoin advocate, to unpack what she calls “Bitcoin Season 2.”
“Bitcoin Season 2 is really about seeing what we can do with Bitcoin outside of just being money,” said Duke. “What are the broad range of financial use cases for [Bitcoin] other than just being money by itself?” New developments like ordinals, runes, and decentralized financial (DeFi) tools are pushing Bitcoin beyond its traditional identity as a digital store of value. One key innovation under discussion is trustless lending — allowing users to borrow against their Bitcoin without involving third-party intermediaries. “We don’t have the ability to lend against our Bitcoin in a trustless way without third-party intermediaries,” Duke said. “I would argue that is the second most important and second most used use case in the real world other than making payments.” One emerging solution involves Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs), which let users maintain control of their Bitcoin while locking it as collateral. Smart contract logic enforces repayment, not a central authority. “That’s proven by math rather than trust,” Duke said. Related: Bitcoin looks ‘ridiculous’ as bulls attempt $2T market cap flip — Analyst Duke said she is equally excited about trustless bridging, which could allow Bitcoin to interact with external computation platforms without compromising its decentralized ethos. “If you could use Bitcoin not just as money but as a base asset that can trustlessly plug into any financial system, that would be… the end of the road for this asset.” Looking ahead, Jenkinson highlighted how Bitcoin-native DeFi could unlock real-world financial access for people excluded from traditional banking. “A few little changes to some lines of code might just unlock [permissionless finance] for all of us,” he said. “And that’s the kind of future I’m hopeful about.” To hear the full conversation on The Clear Crypto Podcast, listen to the full episode on Cointelegraph’s Podcasts page, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And don’t forget to check out Cointelegraph’s full lineup of other shows! Magazine: ZK-proofs are bringing smart contracts to Bitcoin — BitcoinOS and Starknet
Bitcoin beyond money
Lending on Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 108,789.00
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,628.53
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00
XRP (XRP) $ 2.33
BNB (BNB) $ 663.66
Solana (SOL) $ 153.07
USDC (USDC) $ 0.999906
TRON (TRX) $ 0.286826
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.172225
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,626.30
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.595024
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 108,499.00
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 39.23
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,173.31
Sui (SUI) $ 2.93
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 508.96
Chainlink (LINK) $ 14.08
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.04
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.264982
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 18.45
USDS (USDS) $ 0.999684
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,816.47
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000012
Toncoin (TON) $ 2.81
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.162689
WETH (WETH) $ 2,628.33
Litecoin (LTC) $ 88.02
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 44.93
Binance Bridged USDT (BNB Smart Chain) (BSC-USD) $ 0.998665
Monero (XMR) $ 317.51
Coinbase Wrapped BTC (CBBTC) $ 108,748.00
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00
Polkadot (DOT) $ 3.47
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 4.32
Uniswap (UNI) $ 7.69
Aave (AAVE) $ 300.47
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000010
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00
Pi Network (PI) $ 0.465208
Ethena Staked USDe (SUSDE) $ 1.18
Bittensor (TAO) $ 322.81
OKB (OKB) $ 48.30
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.092855
Aptos (APT) $ 4.47
BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) $ 1.00
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 2.25
Jito Staked SOL (JITOSOL) $ 185.94
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 4.88
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 17.04
Ondo (ONDO) $ 0.803070
sUSDS (SUSDS) $ 1.06
USD1 (USD1) $ 0.998984
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.077688
Gate (GT) $ 16.14
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.571362
Fasttoken (FTN) $ 4.45
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 4.15
VeChain (VET) $ 0.021071
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.197662
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 0.673511
Official Trump (TRUMP) $ 8.64
Sky (SKY) $ 0.080119
Ethena (ENA) $ 0.267065
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000022
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.339090
Render (RENDER) $ 3.22
Lombard Staked BTC (LBTC) $ 108,387.00
Binance-Peg WETH (WETH) $ 2,621.70
Filecoin (FIL) $ 2.32
Algorand (ALGO) $ 0.181358
Jupiter Perpetuals Liquidity Provider Token (JLP) $ 4.53
Worldcoin (WLD) $ 0.872130
USDtb (USDTB) $ 0.999594
Sei (SEI) $ 0.260360
First Digital USD (FDUSD) $ 1.00
Binance Staked SOL (BNSOL) $ 162.21
KuCoin (KCS) $ 11.09
USDT0 (USDT0) $ 0.999994
SPX6900 (SPX) $ 1.41
Jupiter (JUP) $ 0.434966
Kelp DAO Restaked ETH (RSETH) $ 2,754.09
Rocket Pool ETH (RETH) $ 2,994.19
NEXO (NEXO) $ 1.22
Tokenize Xchange (TKX) $ 15.09
Celestia (TIA) $ 1.62
Flare (FLR) $ 0.016150
Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) $ 1.07
Polygon Bridged USDT (Polygon) (USDT) $ 1.00
XDC Network (XDC) $ 0.065545
Injective (INJ) $ 10.50
Mantle Staked Ether (METH) $ 2,797.82
Stacks (STX) $ 0.658830
Binance Bridged USDC (BNB Smart Chain) (USDC) $ 0.999167
StakeWise Staked ETH (OSETH) $ 2,759.79
Solv Protocol BTC (SOLVBTC) $ 108,569.00
Sonic (S) $ 0.303875
Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) $ 1.47
Optimism (OP) $ 0.546921
SyrupUSDC (SYRUPUSDC) $ 1.11
PAX Gold (PAXG) $ 3,301.64
