According to a press release on Wednesday, Avalanche has utilized native Bitcoin (BTC) support on the platform, which will be implemented through Avalanche Bridge.
By sending BTC to Avalanche directly, the solution enables users to employ their Bitcoin in the DeFi industry and access earning and yield opportunities. Customers will still be able to include Bitcoin in their portfolios, according to the Layer 1 blockchain team.
Avalanche tweeted the following:
![](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHdpZHRoPSI2MTgiIGhlaWdodD0iMzM4IiB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgNjE4IDMzOCI+PHJlY3Qgd2lkdGg9IjEwMCUiIGhlaWdodD0iMTAwJSIgc3R5bGU9ImZpbGw6I2NmZDRkYjtmaWxsLW9wYWNpdHk6IDAuMTsiLz48L3N2Zz4=)
In August 2021, Avalanche, which works with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), released the Bridge feature. Since then, the bridge has enabled value transactions of more than $50 billion in the DeFi ecosystem of the blockchain.
If the feature receives widespread adoption within the Bitcoin community, this will probably increase significantly. Avalanche said that BTC support is aimed at unlocking the $500 billion fortune now trapped in the Bitcoin network and bringing it to the Avalanche DeFi ecosystem.
Avalanche made the BTC Bridge accessible at the same moment as Ava Labs revealed the beginning of work on its Core Browser Extension. Customers can investigate Web3 prospects on Avalanche with the assistance of the non-custodial extension, which is free for users.
Users will need to download the Key Browser Extension to run their BTC in the DeFi ecosystem with the new bridge. According to the developers, Avalanche does not support the BTC bridge using Metamask or other funds.
Through the browser extension, support for Ethereum (ERC-20) coins is also expected to be added.
Read more: Avalanche confirms integration of Chainlink Keepers and VRF to support Avalanche developers and users