OP_NET is launching a decentralized finance stack it calls SlowFi, designed to run entirely on Bitcoin’s base layer using standard transactions and native BTC fees. The project avoids bridges, wrapped assets, and separate gas tokens, according to co-founder Frederic Fosco, who goes by Danny Plainview.
Fosco says applications run through Taproot-based transactions, while the platform’s NativeSwap model supports token swaps without additional assets. Swap costs are estimated at $1 to $2 under normal conditions and $10 to $20 during congestion, as users pay only standard Bitcoin network fees.
OP_NET enters a space already occupied by RSK, which uses a federated sidechain with its own gas token, and Stacks, a Bitcoin-anchored layer-2 that settles periodically to Bitcoin rather than inside base-layer transactions. Critics argue that DeFi activity on layer 1 clogs block space and dilutes Bitcoin’s monetary purpose.
Fosco contends that any fee-paying Taproot transaction represents a legitimate use of block space, and that restricting transaction types hands control of Bitcoin to whoever defines those categories.
Originally reported by CoinTelegraph.
