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.

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.