We’re excited to announce the launch of Yala Testnet v2, the next evolution of the Yala platform!
This update brings refined features, new functionalities, and an optimized user experience, offering a glimpse into the future of Bitcoin DeFi. Whether you're a seasoned user or new to Yala, there’s something for everyone in v2.
You can now deposit BTC to obtain YBTC and withdraw YBTC to receive BTC with 1:1 ratio.
A dedicated “In and Out History” page provides full transparency by displaying your entire Stake & Unstake history.
Earn 24 Berries for every 0.001 BTC you deposit to obtain YBTC, boosting your rewards as you interact with the Yala ecosystem.
Updated Block Processing Time
Transaction block processing has been updated to 6 blocks (~1 hour) for v2, compared to v1’s 1 block (10 minutes)—delivering enhanced security while maintaining efficiency.
User Guide Optimization
To help users quickly get started, we’ve introduced:
Updated 'Get Started' Page.
Improved documentation & user guidance.
YBTC Branding Updates
All BTC references across the platform now reflect YBTC branding for a consistent and unified experience. This includes:
Creating, adjusting and closing vaults.
The Position page.
The Transaction History page.
YU/YBTC Liquidity Supplementary Points Plan
We’re introducing the YU/YBTC Liquidity Supplementary Points Plan:
Add liquidity to Uniswap to earn LP tokens.
Stake these LP tokens on Yala to earn additional points and rewards.
Earn 0.04 Berries per hour for every 1 $YU worth of LP token you stake.
This initiative encourages deeper participation in the ecosystem while rewarding liquidity providers.
Simplified Platform Features
We’ve streamlined Yala Testnet by removing:
Staking YU
Staking YU will no longer be available nor can earn users any Berries.
Existing stakers can withdraw their staked YU.
“Return the Asset” Function
This Feature has been retired to simplify asset management and improve user work flows.
Earning Berries in v2
Berries remain central to the Yala testnet ecosystem, your engagement and activity on the platform. The more Berries you earn, the higher your leaderboard ranking—and the greater your rewards within Yala’s ecosystem.
With v2’s new incentives, including bridging rewards and liquidity staking opportunities, there are even more ways to boost your Berries earnings.
Yala Testnet v2 is here to deliver a more engaging and refined DeFi experience. Your feedback is essential as we innovate and progress toward the mainnet launch.
Explore v2’s new features and be part of the decentralized financial future powered by Bitcoin.
Join the Yala Community
Yala is building a liquidity layer to unlock Bitcoin’s untapped yield across DeFi and RWAs. Users can deposit BTC and access seamless liquidity, enabling efficient capital movement and yield opportunities across ecosystems, chains, and protocols.
November has been transformative for Yala: we successfully completed our Testnet V1, and saw significant community growth through our testing phase. These foundational steps pave the way for our next milestones: the launch of Testnet V2 and our mainnet in Q1 2025.
In this update, we'll cover several key topics, including:
The Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem has been evolving, and so has Yala. Throughout our development, we've remained focused on diligent research. Our Testnet has brought us a significant number of authentic users, who have provided valuable feedback and ideas. This continuous cycle of research, user interaction, and fresh insights has led to innovations, some of which are now part of our roadmap.
We’re getting closer to our mission—to bridge BTC liquidity across blockchains—taking meaningful steps in a collaborative and forward-thinking way.
Yala Protocol Developments & Testnet V1
On December 5th, we officially launched Testnet V2 and concluded Testnet V1, which had been live for the past month. Throughout this time, we gradually rolled out key features and core assets in different phases of the Testnet, helping users explore, engage with, and familiarize themselves with our platform.
We understand that the Testnet is crucial—it’s the final test of our product before the mainnet launch and a vital opportunity to build our user base for future mass adoption. Thanks to the invaluable feedback we've gathered, our product and engineering teams have made several key optimizations. These refinements are designed to enhance the user experience, ensuring smoother and more secure interactions as we move forward.
We’re also excited to share the impressive results from Testnet V1:
206.10K BTC staked on the testnet
$11.48B in $YU minted
Over 396K users engaged
Let’s take a look at some of the key progress made by our product and engineering teams:
Liquidity Incentive Plan: We deeply understand that liquidity is the lifeblood of any DeFi protocol. We introduced the liquidity incentive plan to our platform. Users who provide liquidity for both $YU and YBTC on Uniswap will be rewarded with LP tokens. In Testnet V2, users can stake their LP tokens obtained from Uniswap to earn Yala testnet points, further enhancing their utility.
$YU and YBTC Minting: In Testnet V1, we launched the $YU stablecoin minting service, and with the upcoming Testnet V2, we will introduce the wrapped BTC minting feature—YBTC. Both of these assets will play a crucial role in the future yield-bearing process. As part of the new Stake & Unstake functions, users can now deposit BTC to obtain YBTC and withdraw YBTC to receive BTC at a 1:1 ratio. To enhance security during this process, we’ve increased the block processing time in Testnet V2. Unlike Testnet V1, which processed 1 block every 10 minutes, Testnet V2 now processes 6 blocks (~1 hour), striking a balance between enhanced security and operational efficiency.
Swap: We’ve also enabled a swap feature between $YU and YBTC, allowing users to easily exchange these two assets. This is an important step toward enabling Yala assets to swap with other assets, bringing BTC liquidity to the broader ecosystem.
Optimization User experience: To improve user experience, we’ve launched a dedicated "In and Out History" page, providing full transparency by displaying your entire staking and unstaking history. Additionally, we’ve updated the "Get Started" page to help users quickly get up and running with our platform.
Community Growth
By early December, Yala's community reached an impressive milestone of nearly 160K members, demonstrating the strong momentum and growing interest in our ecosystem.
Twitter (X) has been a key platform for Yala’s visibility and community engagement. Since the launch of our Testnet, we’ve seen a 58% increase in followers, with a remarkable 15% growth in a single week during Testnet V1. This surge in engagement reflects the growing interest in our project and the active involvement of our community. Throughout November and December, our follower growth has remained consistent, averaging 5-7% weekly, further validating the effectiveness of our community-building strategy and our ability to foster lasting relationships with our supporters.
Discord has flourished with a 77.3% increase in both total and active members, establishing itself as a vital hub for meaningful community discussions. Our moderators' quick and effective support has significantly enhanced user satisfaction, creating a vibrant space where our community continues to grow and collaborate.
Bangkok DevCon Recap
We firmly believe that in-person presence offers a unique and valuable opportunity to enhance communication and build trust. Even during the busy month of November, part of our team traveled to Bangkok for Devcon.
During the event, our team participated in several key panels, including:
Community Frens - Bangkok Edition
ReDeFining Bitcoin: The future of BTCfi
Mass Adoption Forum
BTCON Thailand
DevCon Mass Adoption Rooftop Mixer
and more.
For a full recap of Yala’s experience at Devcon, check out our post here:
Recapping Yala in Bangkok 🇹🇭
Last week in Bangkok, Yala had the opportunity to share our vision for the future of Bitcoin and DeFi, connect with builders & take part in shaping the next phase of BTCfi.
We wrapped up our November report with a powerful quote shared by our co-founder, KT, during his keynote in Bangkok, addressing the fragmented liquidity issues in the BTC ecosystem:
"Just as the Euro united countries in the European Union, $YU is building a standard to create seamless liquidity flow across the Bitcoin ecosystem and beyond, including EVM-compatible and other chains."
What's Next: December
December brings the Christmas spirit and the much-anticipated launch of Yala’s Testnet V2. This update introduces YBTC, our tokenized Bitcoin, which serves as the foundation for $YU and unlocks yield opportunities for $YU holders, further expanding Yala's earning potential beyond stablecoin arbitrage and interest-earning savings.
Additionally, users will experience our liquidity incentive plan built on Uniswap, where we’ll introduce LP tokens to reward those who provide liquidity for $YU and YBTC. This is a key step in enhancing our ecosystem and driving long-term growth.
To celebrate the season of giving, we’re boosting rewards for product engagement and referrals as part of our Xmas Advent Calendar campaign - a special thank-you to our growing community.
Stay tuned for exciting updates as we continue building together, and get ready for the upcoming mainnet in Q1!
Join the Yala Community
Yala is building a liquidity layer to unlock Bitcoin’s untapped yield across DeFi and RWAs. Users can deposit BTC and access seamless liquidity, enabling efficient capital movement and yield opportunities across ecosystems, chains, and protocols.
In this article, we will explore how liquid staking with Yala works, its advantages, and how it opens up new possibilities for Bitcoin holders to engage in DeFi without losing exposure to their Bitcoin investments. Whether you're looking to maximize yields, diversify your portfolio, or simply make your Bitcoin work harder for you, Yala's liquid staking provides a robust gateway into the dynamic world of decentralized finance.
Understanding Liquid Staking
Staking is a process that allows cryptocurrency holders to participate in network security and operations, typically earning rewards in the form of additional tokens. However, traditional staking has a significant drawback: staked assets are locked and can only be used for other purposes once the staking period ends. This means users miss opportunities to use their holdings in other profitable ways, such as trading or collateralizing in DeFi protocols.
Liquid staking addresses this limitation by offering a more flexible alternative. When users stake their assets through liquid staking, they receive a tokenized representation of their staked assets—like YBTC for Bitcoin on Yala—that can be used while the original asset remains staked. This dual functionality allows users to earn staking rewards while using the tokenized version of their assets across different DeFi ecosystems, effectively letting their assets work in multiple places simultaneously.
How Liquid Staking Works
The process of liquid staking on Yala is straightforward and user-friendly:
Staking the Original Asset: Users start by depositing their Bitcoin into the Yala Protocol. These Bitcoin deposits are securely stored, using MPC vaults to ensure the safety and integrity of the assets.
Tokenization and Issuance of YBTC: Once the Bitcoin is staked, Yala issues YBTC, a tokenized version of the staked Bitcoin. This YBTC represents the user's stake and is fully backed by the original Bitcoin deposit, ensuring its value is tethered to the underlying asset.
Using YBTC in DeFi Protocols: YBTC can then be used as collateral within Yala protocol, allowing users to access DeFi services such as minting $YU, trading, or participating in liquidity pools across different blockchains like Ethereum, Botanix, and others. This opens up various possibilities for yield generation and portfolio diversification.
Benefits of Liquid Staking with Yala
With liquid staking, Bitcoin holders can maximize their asset’s productivity by participating in yield-generating activities across multiple DeFi platforms. This transforms Bitcoin from a passive investment into a dynamic, income-generating asset without the need to sell.
Key Benefits of Liquid Staking with Yala:
Increased Capital Efficiency: Liquid staking with Yala allows Bitcoin holders to earn staking rewards while using YBTC as collateral for additional financial activities. This dual utility maximizes Bitcoin's capital efficiency, allowing users to earn yields.
Cross-Chain Flexibility: The ability to mint $YU across various ecosystems gives users the freedom to engage in diverse DeFi opportunities. This cross-chain functionality ensures that Bitcoin liquidity is not confined to a single blockchain but can flow seamlessly across different networks, enhancing the overall composability of the DeFi ecosystem.
Risk Mitigation: By diversifying the use of YBTC across multiple platforms, users can spread their exposure and reduce the risk of relying on a single protocol or blockchain. Yala’s platform is designed to manage and optimize these risks, providing a balanced approach to yield generation.
Use Cases of Liquid Staking with Yala
Yield Farming and Liquidity Provision: Users can provide liquidity using YBTC as collateral. Users can earn trading fees and incentives by minting $YU and pairing it with other assets in liquidity pools, enhancing their overall returns.
Lending and Borrowing: With YBTC, users can participate in lending and borrowing markets across integrated DeFi platforms. Users can borrow other assets by staking YBTC as collateral, creating leverage or accessing additional capital for other investments.
Access to Diverse DeFi Strategies: Yala’s platform offers access to a wide range of DeFi strategies, from conservative, low-risk options to more aggressive yield farming opportunities. This flexibility allows users to tailor their investments to their risk appetite and financial goals.
Revenue Streams
After users bridge their Bitcoin and receive YBTC, they gain access to multiple revenue-generating opportunities through Yala’s platform. These opportunities are divided into three primary categories, allowing users to maximize the utility of their Bitcoin holdings while participating in the DeFi ecosystem.
DeFi Yield Opportunities
YBTC holders can unlock a variety of DeFi yield opportunities, allowing them to capitalize on their tokenized Bitcoin. These opportunities include:
Lending Markets: By engaging with established lending platforms, $YU holders can lend their stablecoins to earn interest, leveraging existing DeFi liquidity needs for stable yields.
AMM Liquidity Pools (LPs): Providing liquidity in AMM pools enables $YU holders to earn trading fees. Yields can be generated from both stablecoin-focused pools and pools that combine stablecoins with more volatile assets, depending on users' risk preferences regarding impermanent loss.
Staking & Composability: Advanced yield farming strategies allow $YU holders to stack yields from multiple DeFi sources. These strategies include staking, interest markets, and derivatives trading, catering to users with higher risk tolerance and a more sophisticated understanding of the DeFi landscape.
BTC Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs)
One of the most compelling revenue streams for BTC holders is the ability to stake YBTC with Liquid Staking protocols like Babylon. This process provides users with a Liquid Staking Token (LST), such as YBTC.Babylon, which represents their staked BTC. These LSTs generate staking yields and offer additional utility within the Yala ecosystem.
Staking BTC for LSTs: After receiving YBTC, users can choose from various Liquid Staking protocols. For example, by selecting Babylon, they stake their YBTC and receive YBTC.Babylon in return.
Using LSTs as Collateral: The YBTC.Babylon can be used as collateral within the Yala platform to mint $YU, creating an additional layer of earning potential.
Flexibility with Protocols: Users are not limited to Babylon. Yala enables users to select their preferred Liquid Staking protocols, allowing them to diversify their staking strategies and yields.
$YU Yield-Bearing Stablecoin Strategies
Yala integrates other yield strategies to earn revenue. These include:
Yala Savings Rate (YSR): YBTC holders can stake $YU in the Yala Savings Rate module, a feature designed to offer stable and predictable returns. Through YSR, users can earn passive income as they participate in Yala’s ecosystem. The YSR provides consistent yields sourced from Yala’s protocol fees and other revenue-generating activities.
Real World Assets (RWAs): Real World Assets, such as highly-liquid short-term fixed income instruments and other income-generating assets, offer stable and predictable yields that can complement DeFi returns.
Yala’s liquid staking allows users to unlock the full potential of their Bitcoin holdings by converting BTC into yBTC, which can be seamlessly used as collateral across multiple DeFi ecosystems. With the liquid staking process, users can easily leverage their tokenized Bitcoin to mint $YU or access various yield-generating opportunities, all while retaining exposure to Bitcoin’s price movements.
To stay updated on the progress, follow our developments on GitHub.
Keep an eye on Yala as we continue to push the boundaries of innovation and shape the future of the DeFi space.
Join the Yala Community
Yala is building a liquidity layer to unlock Bitcoin’s untapped yield across DeFi and RWAs. Users can deposit BTC and access seamless liquidity, enabling efficient capital movement and yield opportunities across ecosystems, chains, and protocols.
This October has been nothing short of monumental for Yala. We achieved two major milestones: Successful launch of Testnet V1 and the completion of our seed round fundraising. These achievements have not only introduced our community to Yala’s initial product suite but have also fueled excitement and engagement as we prepare for our next leap forward: Testnet V2, which promises expanded functionality and innovative features.
As a DeFi protocol on Bitcoin, Yala aims to bridge Bitcoin’s liquidity across blockchains. Our users are not just participants; they are vital channels for this liquidity. The testnet serves as the initial platform for users to interact with, understand, and ultimately believe in our vision, joining us in our mission.
In this update, we’ll cover key developments, including:
Yala Protocol Updates
A Recap of Our Fundraising Announcements
Community Initiatives and Growth Highlights
Yala Protocol Development
Our guiding principle at Yala is to onboard users progressively through direct interaction with our product. With this in mind, our product and development team launched Testnet V1 on October 15th, focusing on delivering essential functionalities while ensuring an unparalleled user experience:
Deposit Bitcoin and Mint $YU
Stake $YU to Earn Berries – Yala Testnet Points
Repay Stablecoins and Withdraw Collateral
This testnet is a crucial milestone, taking the first step towards integrating Bitcoin's liquidity into a wider blockchain ecosystem via $YU. More than just an asset, $YU serves as a vital conduit for bringing Bitcoin's liquidity into non-Bitcoin environments.
Dashboard with Key Metrics: Understanding the importance of financial oversight in DeFi, we've crafted a user-friendly Key Metrics Dashboard. It displays critical statistics such as liquidation price, collateralization ratio, $YU debt, and more, all dynamically calculated based on your deposited collateral and borrowed stablecoins. This dashboard empowers users with real-time data for confident decision-making.
MetaMint $YU: In our initial phase, Yala facilitates direct deposits of Bitcoin from a Taproot address to mint $YU on Ethereum. We've bypassed the conventional, cumbersome process of wrapping native BTC into tokenized forms before minting stablecoins. Our "one-click" MetaMint solution reduces complexity and risk, enhancing both user experience and security in integrating Bitcoin into DeFi.
Portfolio Management: This functionality allows users to seamlessly manage their portfolios through key actions: minting additional $YU, withdrawing BTC by repaying debt to free up collateral, closing vaults with one click to settle debt and reclaim collateral, and staking or unstaking $YU.
Asset return: We ensure user collateral is always safe. If collateral assets on Yala remain unused in any vault due to errors or failures on destination chains, users can reclaim them from the Unclaimed Collateral section.
Liquidation: Yala ensures the safety of the system by implementing a liquidation process. Liquidation is triggered if the value of a user's collateral falls below the required collateral price.
Team-Up Function: We believe community is the foundation of growth. Rather than spending on traditional advertising for user acquisition, we're sharing those rewards with members who actively contribute to our growth. This is why we created the "Team-Up" function. When members refer new users, they receive a portion of the Berries earned by their referrals.
All these advancements were introduced in Testnet V1, serving as the final rehearsal before our mainnet launch and showcasing the core features of our protocol.
Fundraising Announcements
Milestone announcements are crucial for building cohesion and increasing engagement within a community. In October, we announced the successful completion of our seed funding round, co-led by Polychain Capital and Ethereal Ventures. The round also saw participation from Galaxy Vision Hill, Anagram, Amber Group, ABCDE, Ambush Capital, GeekCartel, Hashkey Capital, L2 Iterative Ventures (L2IV), SatoshiLab, UpHonest Capital, UTXO Management, 280 Capital, and more.
This backing not only validates our innovative approach but also strengthens community trust, setting the stage for developing a dynamic liquidity layer linking Bitcoin with other blockchain ecosystems.
Yala's Community Initiatives & Growth
To enrich our community's understanding and engagement with the DeFi landscape, we introduced Yala’s Space: "The Bitcoin Liquidity Series". This initiative brought together thought leaders from across the industry to delve into the complexities of technology and economic design. In October, we were honored to have speakers from Nubit and Botanix, with each session drawing an impressive average of 9K~10K listeners.
Our efforts to connect with and expand our community have paid off significantly. A particularly successful week on Twitter saw our follower count surge by 15.5% between October 21–28, thanks to targeted campaigns and engaging content.
The launch of Testnet V1 has been a testament to the community's enthusiasm and belief in Yala's vision. By the end of October, the engagement statistics were remarkable:
85,350 testnet BTC deposited
$4.15 billion $YU minted
85,000 community members actively participating
These achievements reflect the enthusiasm of our community and the immense potential of Yala as we approach our next step.
What's Next: November
Building on Testnet V1's momentum, we're thrilled to announce the launch of Testnet V2 this November. This next phase introduces advanced functionalities, including new yield-bearing structures and refined product features—all designed to enhance the user experience.
We're excited to meet our community at Devcon in Bangkok this November. If you're in the area, join us to explore the future of Bitcoin liquidity integration and connect with our team.
October has set the stage for Yala’s transformative journey. With the successful completion of Testnet V1, a strong community foundation, and solid backing from leading industry investors, Yala is poised to redefine Bitcoin’s role in DeFi.
Stay tuned as we take the next step with Testnet V2 and continue building toward our vision of bridging Bitcoin liquidity across blockchains. Let’s grow together!
The Yala Testnet Launch
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the Yala Testnet!
With this release, users can now interact with the core features of the Yala protocol and get a firsthand experience of how we are bridging Bitcoin with multi-chain ecosystems.
Deposit and MetaMint $YU: Securely deposit BTC and mint $YU, our Bitcoin-backed stablecoin.
Manage your position: Adjust your vaults by adding or withdrawing BTC and managing your $YU.
Stake your $YU: Stake your $YU to earn $BERRIES, the native points token.
Explore the Yala testnet launch for a number of other benefits and features, including referral links and other hidden opportunities to earn more $BERRIES.
Earning $BERRIES
$BERRIES are the Yala testnet reward points you can earn by participating in various activities within the Yala platform. These points reflect your engagement and activity in the Yala ecosystem, with the more $BERRIES you collect, the higher you can rank on the Yala leaderboard. Earning $BERRIES improves your recognition and rewards across the Yala ecosystem, including Yala’s future airdrop rewards.
You can earn BERRIES in a number of ways across the Yala ecosystem. For more details on BERRIES, check out the Yala testnet guide here.
What's Next?
The Yala testnet offers users the chance to explore these functionalities and provide feedback as we move closer to our full mainnet launch. It’s an exciting time to be a part of the Yala community, and we invite everyone to dive in, experiment with the testnet, and help us shape the future of Bitcoin DeFi.
Join us on this journey as we continue to build a decentralized, multi-chain financial system powered by Bitcoin.
Join the Yala Community
Yala is building a liquidity layer to unlock Bitcoin’s untapped yield across DeFi and RWAs. Users can deposit BTC and access seamless liquidity, enabling efficient capital movement and yield opportunities across ecosystems, chains, and protocols.
