New York, New York, April 8th, 2025, FinanceWire
Testnet Opens Door to Decentralized Trading, Borrowing, Earning, and Stablecoins on Bitcoin’s Foundation
Bitcoin’s market cap sits close to $2 trillion, but its potential remains largely untapped, locked behind centralized solutions. The Alpen testnet is now publicly available, a major step toward unleashing that potential with programmability and scalability through zero-knowledge proofs. This milestone brings decentralized trading, borrowing, earning, stablecoins, and more one step closer to Bitcoin.
“Bitcoin’s not just for holding anymore,” said Simanta Gautam, CEO and co-founder of Alpen Labs. “Alpen equips developers with tools to build and users with the ability to engage with Bitcoin in all the ways they’ve wanted, no middlemen required. Some of the best teams in the space are already building on it, and we can’t wait to see what’s next.”
The Alpen testnet allows developers to experiment, build, and test BTC applications once confined to centralized exchanges, custodians, or wrapped tokens on other chains. For users, it offers a glimpse into an open future financial system that’s secure and self-custodial.
Alpen distills years of research by the Alpen Labs team into secure, trust-minimized programmability for Bitcoin. Alpen’s EVM compatibility enables crypto’s largest developer base to use familiar tools to tap into Bitcoin’s massive liquidity. Alpen’s BitVM2-based Strata bridge will provide applications with the most secure, trust-minimized BTC upon launch. Alpen’s zk-rollup architecture enables faster, lower-cost transactions while inheriting Bitcoin’s unmatched security.
“I believe this represents one of the most important breakthroughs in blockchain history, uniting Bitcoin’s unmatched security with the programmability we’ve waited 15 years for. Alpen is a game-changer for Bitcoin, and we’re proud to back a team that’s pushing the ecosystem to new heights.” — Nic Carter, Partner at Castle Island Ventures
Founded in 2022 by four MIT alumni and backed by Ribbit Capital, Stillmark, DBA, cyber•Fund, Castle Island Ventures, and others, Alpen Labs is reshaping Bitcoin’s ecosystem into one where builders can securely innovate. This testnet paves the way for an upcoming mainnet launch that seeks to redefine Bitcoin’s future.
Users can learn more at alpenlabs.io and read the launch blog post.
About Alpen Labs
Alpen Labs is shaping the next chapter of Bitcoin’s story. With Alpen, Bitcoin gains programmability and scalability, enabling decentralized trading, lending, stablecoins, and more without compromising security or decentralization. Founded in New York by four MIT grads, Alpen Labs is connecting innovative finance to the world’s most trusted digital money.