Marathon Digital reveals Anduro, a Bitcoin layer 2 network

Published: Feb 29, 2024 03:51:49 PM IST

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Marathon Digital, a prominent player in the crypto mining industry, is expanding its reach into Bitcoin scalability with the introduction of a new multichain layer-2 network named Anduro.

In a blog post on February 28, the company unveiled its development efforts in creating this scaling platform, aiming to accelerate the progress and adoption of Bitcoin.

Anduro is positioned as an application layer with the goal of fostering innovation within the Bitcoin ecosystem by facilitating the establishment of numerous sidechains.

This programmable layer-2 solution is specifically engineered to incorporate decentralised governance systematically, prioritising its role as the most dependable and developer-focused layer-2 network for Bitcoin, according to the company's statement.

Utilising an innovative approach known as merge-mining, Anduro presents an opportunity for miners like Marathon to earn extra income from transactions on its sidechains while concurrently mining Bitcoin.

As outlined in the litepaper, governance of Anduro is facilitated through a "diverse consortium of Bitcoin-forward entities" referred to as the Collective. However, this governance model is expected to transition gradually to a more decentralised model of community-led decision-making. While Marathon Digital has played a key role in incubating Anduro, it emphasises that the initiative is meant to be community-driven.

Marathon Digital also disclosed its ongoing work on the initial two sidechains within Anduro, namely Coordinate and Alys. Coordinate is geared towards providing an economical UTXO (unspent transaction output) stack tailored for the Ordinals community, while Alys serves as an Ethereum-compatible sidechain catering to institutional asset tokenisation needs.

Fred Thiel, Chairman and CEO of Marathon, emphasised the company's commitment to fostering innovation within the Bitcoin ecosystem, citing projects like Anduro as pivotal examples. "We believe in a process of testing, iterating, and allowing the market to determine the success of ideas," Thiel stated, highlighting Anduro as a concept that not only benefits Bitcoin holders and application developers but also reinforces the long-term viability of Bitcoin's Proof-of-Work mechanism.

The company's next objective, as outlined in the litepaper, is to enlist influential and aligned partners who share their vision to propel Bitcoin adoption forward.

In a related development, Marathon recently introduced "Slipstream," a direct Bitcoin transaction submission service, underscoring their ongoing efforts to streamline Bitcoin-related services.

Projects like Marathon Digital's Anduro highlight the ongoing pursuit of scalability and efficiency within blockchain networks, while initiatives like Slipstream showcase efforts to enhance the user experience and accessibility. As interest in layer-2 solutions grows, the crypto industry is experiencing a surge in investment and enthusiasm, particularly in tokens associated with Bitcoin scaling and smart contract functionalities.

Shashank is the founder of yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist.

Twitter: @bhardwajshash