BRC-20 Indexer Upgrade Brings Ethereum-Like Features to Bitcoin

BRC-20, the very first token basic developed straight on Bitcoin’s base layer and indexers, has actually formally released “BRC2.0” at Bitcoin block height 912690, which happened Monday early morning.

The upgrade embeds EVM (Ethereum Virtual Device) performance straight into the BRC-20 core indexer, permitting designers to release Ethereum– design clever agreements on Bitcoin, without depending on bridges, oracles, or relied on intermediaries.

The relocation allows programmability to Bitcoin-native tokens, efficiently turning BRC-20 properties into composable and interoperable instruments that can connect with EVM-compatible chains and scaling layers.

The BRC2.0 upgrade was established by Best In Slot, a crucial facilities gamer in the Ordinals community, in cooperation with BRC20’s pseudonymous developer Domo and the Layer 1 Structure, the governance body managing the procedure.

” Bitcoin meta-protocols like Ordinals, Runes, and BRC20 operate on indexers, which operate like basic calculators,” Eril Binari Ezerel, CEO of Finest In Slot, shared in a news release to Decrypt “We updated this ‘calculator-style’ indexer with EVM– making BRC20 Turing total.”

From meme coins to modular apps

Given that its launch in early 2023, BRC-20 has actually seen over $3 billion in possession worth traded. The turning point has actually been accomplished without raising equity capital or getting institutional assistance.

Even as activity cooled in 2025, BRC-20 volumes stayed dominant, signing up 5,636 BTC (US$ 633 million) in on-chain volume over the last 6 months, more than double Runes and almost 5 times more than conventional Ordinals engravings.

The brand-new clever agreement performance broadens what’s possible for Bitcoin-native properties.

Previously, these tokens have actually been mainly utilized for meme coins and speculative trading, with couple of real-world applications due to Bitcoin’s minimal programmability.

” Adoption of Bitcoin native properties has actually been suppressed since there are no dApps on Bitcoin; it’s simply memes,” Ezerel included. “Among the primary objectives of BRC2.0 is to bring Ethereum’s more varied application community onto Bitcoin.”

BRC2.0 goes into a growing landscape of programmable Bitcoin layers, consisting of the WASM-based Alkanes requirement, which just recently rose to represent almost one-third of all meta-protocol associated deals in Q3.

Contrasts to Runes

So what does this mean for the present state of the Bitcoin fungible tokens market?

” The Bitcoin token market has a hard time since it is practically totally meme coins, Asher Corson, CIO of Unbroken Chain, the very first institution-backed liquid trading fund in the Bitcoin Ordinals community, informed Decrypt

” Programmability and DeFi will trigger renewed interest, with earnings most likely turning into engravings, possibly driving another bull run for Bitcoin properties,” he stated.

Corson likewise described how the relocation compares to Runes and how this locations BRC-20 in a different classification.

” The BRC-20 2.0 upgrade presents programmability. Runes is not programmable and is not likely to ever be. This basically restricts Runes to meme coins. BRC-20 2.0, on the other hand, will can supporting a DeFi community.”

Bridging 2 giants

The combination of EVM into BRC20’s core layer indicates designers can now develop dApps straight protected by Bitcoin, while preserving compatibility with Ethereum tooling. No bridges, no covered properties– simply native composability.

” The holy grail is integrating the 2 gold requirements: Bitcoin as the most decentralized and safe network, and the EVM as the most tested virtual maker,” Domo, the developer of BRC20, stated. “The objective is to provide users the Ethereum experience of composability and programmability, however protected by Bitcoin.”