Bitlayer has announced that mining pools controlling 31.5% of Bitcoin’s total hashrate now support its BitVM smart contract system. This development is a major step toward enabling smart contracts directly on the Bitcoin blockchain.
According to a May 27 statement, major mining pools including Antpool, F2Pool, and SpiderPool are backing the BitVM system. Antpool CEO Andy Chow said his pool will act as a bridge operator to support innovation on Bitcoin while protecting miners’ interests.
BitVM (Bitcoin Virtual Machine) is a framework that allows Bitcoin to handle complex smart contracts without changing its base protocol. It runs computations off-chain while verifying them on-chain, similar to optimistic rollups used in other blockchains.
Bitlayer, a BitVM implementation, aims to let Bitcoin users access decentralized finance (DeFi) tools and layer-2 networks. According to Chow, this could increase network activity and generate more transaction fees, which are becoming vital for miners as block rewards shrink over time.
For BitVM to work, miners need to include special Taproot-based transactions in blocks. These transactions contain interactive verification logic, and without mining pool support, the system would not function. That’s why the backing from Antpool, F2Pool, and SpiderPool is so important.
Current data shows Antpool controls 17.2% of Bitcoin’s hashrate, F2Pool has 8.2%, and SpiderPool holds 6.1%, bringing the total to 31.5%. This is enough for BitVM transactions to be included in about one out of every three blocks, making it suitable for testing and early-stage applications.
A Bitlayer representative said they are prepared if support drops or if Bitcoin Core policy changes. They plan to expand partnerships with more mining pools to maintain and grow network support.
This marks a key moment in Bitcoin’s evolution, bringing smart contract features closer to reality while staying within the network’s existing rules.
