Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson believes decentralized finance in the Bitcoin ecosystem will eclipse all other crypto DeFi within two to three years. 

He touted the potential for Bitcoin DeFi while making a bold price prediction and highlighting a new model for bridging BTC without using centralized exchanges. 

“I started in the Bitcoin space and I loved Bitcoin. Bitcoin has been a big part of my life and the only reason I’m here today is because Bitcoin exists,” he said in a YouTube video posted on Nov. 27. 

He voiced frustrations with using Bitcoin in the early days but stated that “Bitcoin went from a sleeping giant never to awaken in an innovation coma, to an awakened giant that is four times the size of Solana and Ethereum combined,” adding:

“DeFi in the Bitcoin ecosystem will eclipse DeFi in all ecosystems in the cryptocurrency industry within 24 months to 36 months, and that’s just because of scale and liquidity.”

Hoskinson also pointed to the discussions that governments are now having around Bitcoin strategic reserves, stating that BTC alone is their entry point:

“It is my belief that Bitcoin is going to go to $250,000 to $500,000 within the next 12 to 24 months because of the investment inflows and the great interest that has been achieved.” 

“Simply put, Bitcoin is the store of value for the internet, and it will remain in that role for the foreseeable future now that it has a DeFi layer,” he added before describing a new model for bringing DeFi capabilities to Bitcoin through Cardano’s network which he described as “DeFi mode.”

Cardano founder predicts Bitcoin DeFi will dominate crypto within 3 years image 0

Charles Hoskinson speaking about Bitcoin DeFi. Source: YouTube

Users can “enable DeFi mode” by bridging their Bitcoin to a wrapped token on Cardano, he said. This allows Bitcoin holders to participate in DeFi ecosystems, trade on decentralized exchanges, use yield-bearing instruments and maintain custody of their private keys. 

Related: Shifting Bitcoin from digital gold to a DeFi powerhouse through innovation

A Cardano-Bitcoin bridge based on the Grail protocol was announced by a development team backing Cardano in October. 

The bridge may be a first step toward providing DeFi applications that are secured by Bitcoin, according to the underlying protocol’s specifications.

Magazine: Make Ethereum feel like Ethereum again: Based rollups explained