Botanix, a Bitcoin scaling network, said it will cease operations and require users to withdraw assets by July 9. The project, launched four years ago, built Spiderchain, an Ethereum‑compatible chain that uses a proof‑of‑stake‑style consensus and a federation of validators to enable Bitcoin programmability. Botanix integrated with Chainlink, Fireblocks and Galaxy and launched a consumer Bitcoin neobank app. The team said the technology functioned but failed to achieve sustainable product‑market fit and generate sufficient fee revenue. Most Bitcoin holders treat the asset as a reserve or yield vehicle, while demand for Bitcoin‑backed DeFi is satisfied by wrapped BTC on Ethereum. Trading volume has shifted to large exchanges and traditional financial intermediaries, limiting revenue for infrastructure‑focused networks. Other initiatives such as Stacks, Rootstock and Citrea are pursuing Bitcoin programmability through separate blockchains or novel architectures, aiming to provide use cases that rely on Bitcoin’s settlement features rather than generic DeFi functions.