Citrea, backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Galaxy Digital, launched its mainnet with a zkEVM rollup. They also introduced a native dollar stablecoin called ctUSD. The move repurposes dormant bitcoin from a passive store of value for programmable lending, trading, and settlement within a Bitcoin-secured execution layer.
For its launch, Citrea combined several technical elements to increase performance and add programmability while anchoring security to Bitcoin. Furthermore, one of the company’s main focuses was to offer faster transactions and the lowest possible fees.
The architecture relies on BitVM along with zero-knowledge proofs to enable EVM-compatible dApps to operate with Bitcoin settlement collateral.
Another key point is that Citrea created its stablecoin, ctUSD, to operate within a regulated and stable framework that adds security and trust, as well as being backed by US Treasury bonds and cash. ctUSD is designed to allow users to trade, lend, and settle without continuous exposure to the price of BTC, and was presented as having been conceived with regulatory frameworks such as the GENIUS Act in mind.
The company also introduced a specialized bridge, Clementine, which uses BitVM and ZKP techniques to move value and mint wrapped assets between the Bitcoin base layer and the rollup in a trust-minimized manner.
Citrea’s market positioning
Following the launch announcement, Citrea outlined a roadmap that leverages institutional partnerships and DeFi infrastructure to secure liquidity. Citrea’s partners include MoonPay and M0 for stablecoin issuance and integrations with DeFi builders such as Morpho, Edge Capital’s UltraYield, and Keyrock for lending and structured products.
However, Citrea also faces some hurdles to adoption and full-capacity operation. The ZK-rollup implementations and bridge logic increase the attack surface. This means that errors in the rollup, ZKP stacks, or Clementine bridge could lead to losses.
Regulators add another layer of uncertainty. While the ctUSD designer’s intention to comply with frameworks like the GENIUS Act may reduce friction, global regulations for Layer 2 and stablecoins remain fluid.
Citrea could materially increase the velocity of BTC capital on chain by enabling USD settlement and loans directly secured by Bitcoin.
