 Internet Computer cross-chain protocol usage up 13x amid Bitcoin DeFi boom 
2024-11-05

Internet Computer’s ICPUSD cross-chain messaging protocol, Chain Fusion, has seen usage spike 1,230% year-over-year, largely from Bitcoin-native applications, according to a Nov. 4 report by developer The Dfinity Foundation.
Bitcoin (BTC) apps including Rainbow Protocol, Tap Protocol and Bitfinity are using ICP to deploy smart contracts and other complex programs on the Bitcoin network, Dfinity said.
Chain Fusion “enables smart contracts for Bitcoin as ICP can directly interact with the Bitcoin network without using any trusted bridges,” the developer told Cointelegraph in a statement. 
Internet Computer “is a set of protocols that allow independent data centers around the world to band together and offer a decentralized alternative to the current centralized internet cloud providers,” according to crypto exchange Coinbase.
Network activity across all Internet Computer protocols has increased 150% year-over-year, according to Dfinity. 
The Bitcoin network’s 2021 Taproot upgrade has sparked a proliferation of Bitcoin-native decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and layer-2 (L2) scaling solutions.
Total value locked (TVL) on the Bitcoin network now surpasses $2.6 billion, according to data from DefiLlama.
Bitcoin-native DeFi is still nascent and constrained by limited interoperability among DEXs, Alex Luce, CEO of Bitcoin developer Rebar Labs, told Cointelegraph in October. 
“On Bitcoin, these DEXs aren’t very interoperable, and liquidity is fragmented,” said Luce, who is developing a product called Rebar Shield to promote interoperability among Bitcoin’s fragmented DEX ecosystem.
The network is in need of “someone [who] can come in, even out the prices, and help users with execution,” said Luce. 
Chain Fusion’s next priority is to integrate with Solana SOLUSD, according to Dfinity’s ICP ecosystem report. 
Solana’s TVL surged from less than $250 million at the start of 2023 to nearly $6 billion as of Nov. 4, according to DefiLlama.
In August, artificial intelligence firm DecideAI said it completely transitioned an AI model onto the ICP blockchain, marking what it says is the first time the model has been launched onchain.
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