Founding Federation

Botanix operates as a Bitcoin Layer 2 network through a carefully designed federation model that prioritizes security, efficiency, and user experience. This section explains how Botanix works in its current implementation, covering the key components and processes that enable fast, secure Bitcoin transactions while maintaining full EVM compatibility.

Development Journey

In November 2024, Botanix Labs launched Botanix Testnet V1 as our next public testnet version, replacing the previous testnet infrastructure. This release marked a crucial milestone in our development journey, providing a robust testing environment for continued mainnet development while allowing us to battle-test the federation network, consensus mechanisms, and block production systems under real-world conditions.

Testnet V1 served dual purposes: enabling our development team to refine the protocol toward mainnet readiness, while providing infrastructure partners and decentralized application developers with a stable platform to test their products on our chain. This collaborative testing environment proved invaluable for identifying optimization opportunities and ensuring ecosystem readiness.

After approximately 7 months of intensive battle-testing and development on Testnet V1, the proven architecture and operational procedures formed the foundation for Botanix Mainnet. With mainnet launch, Botanix truly comes to life as users can peg in their actual Bitcoin and begin exploring the rich world of decentralized applications built on top of Bitcoin.

How Botanix Works Today

The Botanix network is secured and operated by a federation of 16 trusted entities from the Bitcoin ecosystem. These federation members collectively manage Bitcoin custody through advanced cryptographic techniques, produce blocks using Byzantine Fault Tolerant consensus, and facilitate seamless bridging between Bitcoin and Botanix.

Unlike traditional proof-of-work or proof-of-stake networks, Botanix uses a Proof of Authority model where security derives from the reputation and economic stake of known, trusted operators. This approach enables immediate transaction finality, predictable performance, and institutional-grade security for Bitcoin custody.

What You'll Learn

The following chapters provide a comprehensive understanding of Botanix's current architecture, refined through months of testnet operations and now powering mainnet:

Federation Overview explains the 16-member federation model, why it was chosen, and how these trusted entities secure the network through collective responsibility and economic alignment.

Consensus Mechanism covers how Botanix uses CometBFT to achieve fast finality and high throughput, explaining the advantages over other consensus mechanisms like Ethereum's Casper.

Bridging details the complete process for moving Bitcoin to Botanix (peg-in) and back (peg-out), including timing, security measures, and user experience considerations.

DKG and FROST Overview provides an accessible introduction to the advanced cryptographic techniques that enable distributed custody without single points of failure.

Block Production and Validation explains how federation members collaborate to create blocks, validate transactions, and maintain network consensus in real-time.

Security Model outlines the multi-layered security approach that protects user funds, from economic incentives and cryptographic protections to operational safeguards and emergency procedures.

Design Philosophy

Botanix's current implementation reflects a pragmatic approach to Bitcoin scaling that prioritizes user experience, security and the right amount of decentralization to bootstrap the network. By leveraging trusted entities with proven track records in the Bitcoin ecosystem, Botanix can provide immediate benefits to users while maintaining the flexibility to evolve toward greater decentralization as the network matures.

The months of testnet operation validated this approach, demonstrating that the federation model can deliver fast, low-cost transactions with immediate finality, full EVM compatibility for smart contracts and DeFi applications, and institutional-grade security for Bitcoin holdings—all while maintaining the fundamental properties that make Bitcoin valuable.

This battle-tested foundation now enables real Bitcoin holders to access Layer 2 capabilities with confidence, knowing the system has been thoroughly validated through extensive testing and operational experience.