As an example, in the first quarter of 2025, Rootstock—a layer-2 Bitcoin network—witnessed an astonishing jump in mining activity. The inverse relationship affected its total value locked (TVL) in both Bitcoin and U.S. dollars during the same period. While TVL has decreased, Rootstock continued building their ecosystem with important integrations and new developer-focused initiatives. Rootstock is continuously improving our platform, and we’re excited to share all that’s new with you. These advancements are great steps toward achieving wider adoption with the Bitcoin DeFi space.

TVL Decline and Ecosystem Expansion

Rootstock’s Bitcoin-denominated TVL saw a 7.2% drop in Q1 2025. U.S. dollar-denominated TVL recorded a similar drop of 20% QoQ to $179.9 million, showing an overall downturn.

Despite the decline in TVL, Rootstock focused on expanding its ecosystem through integrations with LayerZero and Meson Finance, aiming to enhance interoperability and user experience. Rootstock further announced developer-focused moves, such as a new hackathon and improvements to its governance platform, RootstockCollective. These efforts are intended to spark innovation and amplify community engagement across the network.

Rootstock’s hegemony crumbled, as their share plummeted to just 18.8% down from 41.3% in Q4 2024. Active addresses on the network fell by 26.5%. New addresses dropped by 54.7%.

Mining Participation and Network Security

For the first quarter of 2025, Rootstock’s merged mining share had risen in percentage terms to a remarkable 81%. That’s a stunning leap from the 56.4% seen in the prior quarter. Mining participation shot up when the network transaction fees were cut by 60%. This dramatic cut deepened the reach and user-friendliness of the network.

The network’s hash power rocketed to more than 740 exahashes per second. This outstanding achievement broke the total Bitcoin network hashrate record set in October 2024. This heightened security is attributed to increased miner interest and the integration of major mining pools such as Foundry and SpiderPool. Rootstock is widely regarded as being in a “mature phase” of merged mining growth.

Rootstock’s daily transactions were up 4.3%, averaging 11,524 daily transactions per day. Moreover, no single stablecoin had more than 30% of Rootstock’s stablecoin market by the end of Q1 2025.

Analyst Perspective

As BTCFi continues to grow, Rootstock is well-positioned for broader adoption through core upgrades like a 60% reduction in transaction fees, alongside sustained investment in builder education and incentive programs. - Andrew Yang, Messari analyst