{"id":"IV9oRemXCMc","title":"How Atlas Protocol Unlocks Native Bitcoin DeFi Using NEAR","description":"Atlas Protocol is bringing Bitcoin into DeFi — without wrapping or bridging. In this interview with the co-founder Kurt Uhle, we break down how users can liquid stake their native BTC, earn yield, and access DeFi across any chain using NEAR Protocol’s powerful tech.\n\n🔹 Key Takeaways\n• Native BTC staking, no wrapping or bridges\n• Yield generated via Babylon, Bithive, and more\n• Liquid staking token available on NEAR, Solana, EVM, BTC L2s\n• Secured by NEAR smart contracts + MPC wallet system\n• Build once on NEAR → access every chain\n\nAtlas Protocol\nhttps://x.com/_atlasprotocol\n\nNEAR is the Blockchain for AI\nWebsite: https://near.org/\nNEAR AI: https://near.ai/\nIntents: https://near.org/intents\nChain Abstraction: https://www.proximity.dev/\nSharding: https://nearone.org/\n\nFor the devs\nGitHub: https://github.com/near \nDev Docs: https://docs.near.org/\nDevhub: https://devhub.near.page/ @NEARDevHub\n\nConnect with socials\nTwitter:   / nearprotocol  \nBlog: https://near.org/blog/\nMedium:   / nearprotocol  \n#NEAR #nearprotocol #NEARAI","channel_name":"NEAR Protocol","published_at":"2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z","thumbnail_url":"https://img.youtube.com/vi/IV9oRemXCMc/hqdefault.jpg","transcript_text":"I'm here with Kurt from Atlas Protocol. Welcome. Thank you. Glad to be here. So, let's just jump straight into it. What is Atlas Protocol? Atlas is Bitcoin liquid staking. What does that mean? Let's break it down for like explain like I'm five for people. Yeah. You have a Bitcoin, you want to do something with it. You decide you want to earn some yield on that. Uh so, you deposit your Bitcoin, you unlock a liquid staking token on any blockchain. The user can select that um when they stake. And so you earn yield on the underlying BTC and you can then earn additional yield by participating in DeFi with your liquid staking token. We're doing DeFi with Bitcoin leveraging near protocol tech. So Near Protocol Tech is in the background, but it's still using Bitcoin native asset. You initiate a deposit. That Bitcoin then goes to a Bitcoin wallet um on the Bitcoin network, never wrapped, never bridged. And that bitcoin wallet is controlled by a smart contract that sits on near that interacts with the near mpc network. So that network controls that bitcoin wallet. From there that bitcoin is deposited into uh bithive for example or bablon which is a yield provider to generate yield on that underlying bitcoin. And then from there you unlock the liquid staking token on whichever network you want to participate in in other DeFi activities on. And because you're building on Near, that liquid staking can be on multiple different chains. Yeah. So building on Near enables um you know the ability to mint that liquid staking token on whichever chain you want to participate in DeFi on. So that could be near, that could be Salana, that could be any EVM chain, it could even be a Bitcoin L2. So it really um opens up the world of DeFi participation for all bit Bitcoin holders across all chains. I really think that this whole concept of you can take your Bitcoin, you can liquid stake it, and then you get to choose the chaining one, the liquid staking protocol or token on like that's really cool and that's because of Near's account model and structure and all the tech they're putting behind it. Exactly. That's really cool. Can you give me from your perspective as a founder on Near but it is not you're not on you're using Near but you're a founder of like a bitcoin project protoc or you know liquing. What's the benefit of building on near? Yeah, I think building on near you get instant access to every blockchain. So you don't have to redeploy different things on different chains. You can build one product on near and then make that accessible to everyone on every blockchain. I think that's like such a value prop that you don't have to rebuild on other places and it's it's already working. It is. Um, cool. Well, dude, thank you so much for being here.","transcript_synced_at":"2026-11-03T04:57:27.769Z","segments":[{"start_seconds":0,"text":"I'm here with Kurt from Atlas Protocol.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=0s"},{"start_seconds":2,"text":"Welcome. Thank you. Glad to be here. So, let's just jump straight into it. What is Atlas Protocol? Atlas is Bitcoin liquid staking. What does that mean?","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=2s"},{"start_seconds":10,"text":"Let's break it down for like explain like I'm five for people. Yeah. You have a Bitcoin, you want to do something with it. You decide you want to earn some","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=10s"},{"start_seconds":17,"text":"yield on that. Uh so, you deposit your Bitcoin, you unlock a liquid staking token on any blockchain. The user can","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=17s"},{"start_seconds":25,"text":"select that um when they stake. And so you earn yield on the underlying BTC and you can then earn additional yield by","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=25s"},{"start_seconds":33,"text":"participating in DeFi with your liquid staking token. We're doing DeFi with Bitcoin leveraging near protocol tech.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=33s"},{"start_seconds":42,"text":"So Near Protocol Tech is in the background, but it's still using Bitcoin native asset. You initiate a deposit.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=42s"},{"start_seconds":48,"text":"That Bitcoin then goes to a Bitcoin wallet um on the Bitcoin network, never wrapped, never bridged. And that bitcoin","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=48s"},{"start_seconds":56,"text":"wallet is controlled by a smart contract that sits on near that interacts with the near mpc network. So that network","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=56s"},{"start_seconds":64,"text":"controls that bitcoin wallet. From there that bitcoin is deposited into uh bithive for example or bablon which is a","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=64s"},{"start_seconds":72,"text":"yield provider to generate yield on that underlying bitcoin. And then from there you unlock the liquid staking token on","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=72s"},{"start_seconds":80,"text":"whichever network you want to participate in in other DeFi activities on. And because you're building on Near,","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=80s"},{"start_seconds":87,"text":"that liquid staking can be on multiple different chains. Yeah. So building on Near enables um you know the ability to","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=87s"},{"start_seconds":94,"text":"mint that liquid staking token on whichever chain you want to participate in DeFi on. So that could be near, that","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=94s"},{"start_seconds":102,"text":"could be Salana, that could be any EVM chain, it could even be a Bitcoin L2. So it really um opens up the world of DeFi","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=102s"},{"start_seconds":110,"text":"participation for all bit Bitcoin holders across all chains. I really think that this whole concept of you can take your Bitcoin, you can liquid stake","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=110s"},{"start_seconds":118,"text":"it, and then you get to choose the chaining one, the liquid staking protocol or token on like that's really cool and that's because of Near's account model and structure and all the tech they're putting behind it. Exactly.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=118s"},{"start_seconds":128,"text":"That's really cool. Can you give me from your perspective as a founder on Near but it is not you're not on you're using Near but you're a founder of like a","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=128s"},{"start_seconds":136,"text":"bitcoin project protoc or you know liquing. What's the benefit of building on near? Yeah, I think building on near you get instant access to every","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=136s"},{"start_seconds":144,"text":"blockchain. So you don't have to redeploy different things on different chains. You can build one product on","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=144s"},{"start_seconds":152,"text":"near and then make that accessible to everyone on every blockchain. I think that's like such a value prop that you don't have to rebuild on other places and it's it's already working. It is.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=152s"},{"start_seconds":161,"text":"Um, cool. Well, dude, thank you so much for being here.","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc&t=161s"}],"youtube_url":"https://youtube.com/watch?v=IV9oRemXCMc","url":"https://near-pedia.xyz/videos/IV9oRemXCMc"}