Bitcoin-native DeFi infrastructure gets 21+ partners as Alpen Labs opens Testnet III
Bitcoin-native DeFi infrastructure just got a significant stress test. Alpen Labs announced that more than 21 integration partners have begun integrating on Testnet III, marking one of the more ambitious validation efforts yet seen for a project trying to bring lending, borrowing, and stablecoin minting to Bitcoin’s base layer. The scale of partner participation before mainnet signals something worth paying attention to.
Key takeaways
- More than 21 integration partners have begun integrating on Testnet III, Alpen’s latest testing environment built on Bitcoin Signet.
- The Strata bridge uses a 1-of-N trust model, requiring only one honest operator to keep the bridge secure — a lower trust assumption than traditional multi-sig bridges.
- Testnet III features the first publicly usable garbled circuit-based Bitcoin verifier, a novel cryptographic approach to privacy and computation verification.
- Bitcoin Dollar (BTD) is a BTC-backed stablecoin being developed with the Liquity team, the group behind the LUSD stablecoin on Ethereum.
- Alpen Labs was founded in 2022 by MIT alumni and has raised approximately $19.1 million from investors including Ribbit Capital and Castle Island Ventures.
Alpen Labs Launches Testnet III with Extensive Partner Integrations
Twenty-one-plus integration partners before a mainnet launch is not a small number for any project, let alone one building on Bitcoin. Alpen Labs has brought in bridge operators Stakely and Chainflow as live participants on Testnet III, with P2P.org expected to join shortly. The breadth of early participation suggests genuine ecosystem demand for what Alpen is building — a programmable financial layer sitting on top of Bitcoin itself.
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