Citrea launches Bitcoin ZK-rollup mainnet with DeFi and stablecoin

[etfs]

Citrea, a Bitcoin zero-knowledge rollup backed by Founders Fund and Galaxy Ventures, has launched its mainnet with BTC-backed lending, structured products, decentralized trading, and a new U.S. dollar stablecoin called ctUSD.

The project aims to turn what it calls “economically idle” Bitcoin into productive collateral for DeFi and payments, while anchoring activity to Bitcoin’s base layer through ZK proofs. Citrea expects active DeFi liquidity to reach $50 million within the first few weeks of launch.

From day one, the rollout reignited a long-running Bitcoin debate: whether scarce block space should support complex financial applications as block rewards decline, or remain focused on simple, censorship-resistant payments.

[tradelikepro]

$50m liquidity in a few weeks feels optimistic but honestly not impossible given the vcs behind it.