Stroom is pioneering Bitcoin staking services, harnessing the Lightning Network to provide Bitcoin holders with a new method to produce yields. Ross, who has a long background in Bitcoin and DeFi, founded Stroom, which is preparing for its mainnet launch with the goal of securely bridging the gap between Bitcoin and Ethereum. The service simplifies Bitcoin yields by reducing the difficulty of managing Lightning Network nodes for users, and it plans to integrate its STBTC into leading DeFi protocols.

As Stroom nears its mainnet debut, with a strong emphasis on security and community growth, it stands out in the DeFi scene by potentially expanding Bitcoin's utility into the DeFi space. For anyone interested in exploring the convergence of Bitcoin and DeFi via Stroom's unique platform, the AMA highlights provide a deeper dive into their vision and future developments:

X Spaces: Exploring Bitcoin Staking with Stroom Network

Speakers:

• Rostyslav [Ross]: Co-Founder of Stroom (X Profile)
• Viacheslav [Slava] (X Profile): CTO & Co-Founder of Stroom (X Profile)

Index:

1. Intros and Bitcoin Staking
2. Proof of Work vs Proof of Stake
3. Bitcoin Staking with Stroom
4. stBTC Utility and Potential
5. Mainnet Launch Timeline
6. Risk Management
7. Community Building and Updates
8. Upcoming Conferences and Engagement

1. Intros and Bitcoin Staking

• Ross was introduced as co-founder of Stroom and talked about his background in the Bitcoin ecosystem and DeFi, starting in 2016 with the Bitfury Group and later working at Lido Finance and Boosty:

“My name is Ross and I'm the co-founder of Stroom so I'm behind the Stroom network account, so we we started our lucky path in crypto In 2016, when we joined a Bitfury group (...) technologies. Later I worked at Lido Finance, the first transaction was made by me because I was a product manager there and I needed to test the protocol before the announcement. And yeah, so after that I worked with Boosty.”

2. Proof of Work vs Proof of Stake

• Slava, CTO, explained the differences between proof of work, exemplified by Bitcoin, and proof of stake, used in newer blockchains like Ethereum:

“Regarding the difference between proof of work and proof of stake, as you probably know, the Bitcoin blockchain was the first blockchain invented and it works on proof of work (...) something like proof of stake, where you like resources that you devote, it's not like burning energy. So it's... Because there are some environmental issues with that. So now in proof of stake, if you are a miner and you want to add a block, you need to provide some stake in the form of tokens locked for some period of time.”

• Proof of work involves solving computationally demanding puzzles, which secures the network but consumes large amounts of energy:

“In order to add a block to the blockchain, you need to solve a problem. A computationally intense task”

3. Bitcoin Staking with Stroom

• Ross talked about how Stroom allows users to deposit Bitcoins and generate yields in BTC through Lightning Network, a layer-2 solution for Bitcoin.

“User can deposit their Bitcoins and generate some yields in BTC. And in Bitcoin's ecosystem, it's possible only in Lightning Network in a decentralized way.”

• The service is complicated by the need for advanced algorithms for managing liquidity:

“A beauty of this protocol because first of all, it is presently scalable and it because this layer two is not a blockchain is just like a P2P network of channels. And you can put some liquidity there, route transactions, collect some fees and like earn these yields based on your Bitcoin liquidity.”

• Stroom's system removes the technical burden of running a Lightning Network node for the user:

“ So it's harder to run lighting network node. And in Stroom, we aim to provide people with the possibility to stake in the lighting network without all of that technical burden of running a lighting network node.”

• Users can deposit their Bitcoins and generate some yields in BTC, with the process resembling staking because you invest your Bitcoins to earn more:

“So they just need to deposit bitcoins into our multi-sig vault and then the infrastructure providers will do the rest. And another advantage of using the Stroom is that's where actually liquid part comes in.”

4. stBTC Utility and Potential

• Slava emphasized the plan to integrate STBTC with Aave, Curve, and other DeFi leaders, and possibly with EigenLayer in the future:

“We plan to integrate our BTC token into blue chip or DeFi protocols like Aave and Curve and all of that. Of course that will be available on DEXA for sure, but also we... So that's going to be by functionality very similar to WBTC (...) And we also would love to be integrated on EigenLayer layer.”

• Ross talked about the plan to create solutions for Bitcoin enthusiasts, aiming to integrate their wrapped token with Bitcoin layer-2 solutions, especially roll-ups:

“We plan to integrate uh our liquid token to bitcoin L2s, especially to roll-ups yeah and we like started conversations with few of them so like we also have we will have like a solution for only Bitcoin Maxis”

5. Mainnet Launch Timeline

• Mainnet is expected to go live around summer or by the end of this year with the testnet already having begun a few weeks ago and attracted around 10k users:

“We started our testnet a few weeks ago and currently we have around 10K testnet users. So yeah, we see a very good traction. (...) And speaking about the timeline of the mainnet launch, we plan to launch it 100% this year. But it will be around the end of this year. Second quarter or like in the third. So like somewhere around summer.”

• Work is focused on bug fixes, new features, and security checks before the mainnet launch:

“ We are currently fixing a few bugs and also adding new features to our testnet.” Risk Management

• Main risks acknowledged as technical, with emphasis on bridge security between Bitcoin and Ethereum:

“The biggest risk for our project is a technical one that is related to running the bridge between Bitcoin and Ethereum. And actually, there are several bridge projects that are already operational.”

• The bridge's structure is based on the secure, simplified TBTC model from the Threshold Network, which Slava believes is the most secure Bitcoin bridge on the market:

“TBTC, in my opinion, is the most secure bridge from Bitcoin to Ethereum. It's very simple, it's not like a wormhole or some complex bridge. It's super simple, it's just for moving bitcoins from the Bitcoin blockchain to Ethereum,”

• Security checks are planned to detect bugs and improve project security:

“We will do a lot of audits to make sure that we don't have any bugs in our software. So we really try to maximize the security of the project because in our opinion, all infrastructure projects, need to prioritize security first,”

6. Community Building and Updates

• Shifting emphasis to community growth, which includes cooperating with various ambassadors and groups interested in Bitcoin technologies:

“So we are also open to working with different ambassadors and any communities who are interested in Bitcoin technologies and can help us to find early adopters in the future. And in parallel, we are working hard on our mainnet solution.”

• Partnerships with validators for the bridge are being arranged and will be shared publicly soon:

“We plan to make the update in the coming weeks and add validators to our bridge. So we also signed a few very good validators and we will announce this partnership soon.”

7. Upcoming Conferences and Engagement

• Stroom representatives visited the large Lightning Network conference in Tuscany and plan to attend Paris Blockchain Week and other major European conferences, with the possibility of going to some in Asia too:

“And we also plan to visit Paris Blockchain Week. And like I plan to be on the most of. big conferences in Europe, but also maybe we'll visit a few ones in Asia as well.”

• They encourage followers to track their progress on Twitter for updates on Bitcoin staking and Stroom's work:

“Listeners, please follow our Twitter and we will keep you updated with our progress. And yes, you can find all the news about Bitcoin staking and especially about Stroom.”