Citrea, a Bitcoin-centric application platform supported by notable investors such as Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Galaxy Ventures, has officially launched its mainnet, significantly enhancing the utility of Bitcoin in various financial sectors. This launch facilitates the use of Bitcoin in lending, trading, and settling transactions in U.S. dollars.
A key feature of the launch is the introduction of ctUSD, Citrea’s proprietary stablecoin. This innovative token is fully backed by short-term U.S. Treasury bills and cash, and is issued by MoonPay. Citrea has designed ctUSD to align with the GENIUS Act framework, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. The stablecoin functions as a settlement and liquidity layer, specifically optimized for institutional-grade activities, while being anchored directly to Bitcoin. This approach eliminates the need for intermediaries or the use of wrapped Bitcoin.
Citrea has successfully raised $16.7 million in funding through two rounds, highlighting its potential and ambition within the expanding Bitcoin ecosystem. The platform is one of several initiatives aimed at activating and monetizing Bitcoin beyond mere long-term holding. By enabling functionalities such as lending and stablecoin issuance, Citrea and similar projects endeavor to fully leverage the capabilities of the original blockchain technology. Competing platforms, including layer-2 solutions like Botanix and Stacks, are also striving to enhance Bitcoin’s practical applications.
Orkun Kilic, co-founder and CEO of Chainway Labs— which is developing Citrea— emphasized that the mainnet aims to facilitate Bitcoin-secured financial activities on-chain. This will enable BTC-backed lending and institutional credit, with settlements occurring through ctUSD. Citrea has indicated that over 30 Bitcoin-native applications are already set to launch, positioning them to meet diverse financial use cases and paving the way for Bitcoin’s more active role in the financial landscape.
