Bitcoin L2 Merlin

Merlin Chain: largest Bitcoin L2 by TVL (2026), ZK rollup with EVM, 150+ dApps. Federation peg with planned trust-minimization. USE WHEN: evaluating Merlin for deployment, BTC DeFi.

claude-dev-suite Updated 28 repo stars

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Merlin Chain

Bitcoin L2 with EVM compatibility. Largest TVL among Bitcoin L2s (early 2026, ~$1.7 billion in locked assets, 150+ dApps deployed).

Architecture

  • ZK rollup posting state commitments to Bitcoin.
  • EVM execution.
  • Federation peg for BTC bridging.
  • Native token: MERL.

Ecosystem

  • DeFi: lending, AMMs, stable coins.
  • Inscriptions / Ordinals integrations.
  • Cross-chain bridges to Ethereum L2s.

Position

The "leading TVL" Bitcoin L2 in 2025-2026, though TVL is partly inflated by yield-farming incentives. Critique: heavy reliance on federation for now, slower path to trust-minimization.

Use cases

  • BTC yield products.
  • EVM dApps with Bitcoin-themed user base.
  • Cross-chain liquidity hubs.

Limitations

  • Federation trust — large concern given size of TVL.
  • TVL likely inflated by mercenary yield-farming users.
  • Centralization concerns common to early L2s.

See also

claude-dev-suite/claude-dev-suite/tree/main/skills/bitcoin/l2/merlin commit cfeb4f16e8

Frequently asked questions

npx skillmds@latest add claude-dev-suite/bitcoin-l2-merlin