Rootstock
RIFBitcoin sidechain smart contract platform
Performances
RD Popularity Index
RD Growth Index
| 1h | 24h | 7d | 30d | 60d | 90d |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.76% | 2.20% | 8.13% | 19.70% | 7.82% | 27.97% |
Comparison
Tokenomics
Unlock Progress
Data source: CoinMarketCap
RIF is used for service-fee payments and ecosystem governance on the Rootstock network; staking RIF yields stRIF for RootstockCollective DAO voting and reward distribution. Total supply is fixed at 1 billion, with no issuance or burn.
Top Holders
| Address | Token | Quantity | Percentage | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000...8a90 |   RIF | 2,871.51 | 0% | $188.11 |
| 0xba11...1680 | RIF | 1,508.1 | 0% | $98.79 |
| 0x3828...3dac | RIF | 79.82 | 0% | $5.22 |
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About Rootstock
Rootstock is a Bitcoin sidechain live since 2018 that uses merge mining so Bitcoin miners confirm RSK blocks while producing their own, borrowing Bitcoin's hashpower. Assets cross via the Powpeg, where the private keys to the locked address are held as shares by a set of functionaries inside hardware security modules and a majority of signatures is required to unlock, with users receiving RBTC 1:1 on-chain. Execution is EVM-compatible with Ethereum-style accounts and contracts, and fees are paid in RBTC. It addresses Bitcoin's lack of programmability and the need to trust a centralized custodian to bring BTC into DeFi. On 2 April 2026 the mandatory consensus upgrade Vetiver 9.0.0 was executed, revising merge-mining tags and consensus rules.
It carries bitcoin-denominated finance: lending lets BTC holders borrow stablecoins against RBTC, and bridges move assets between Bitcoin and RSK. The RIF token maps to the RNS naming service, Relay and the Flyover fast bridge. Merge mining ties block production to Bitcoin hashpower, and roughly USD 79 million is locked onchain.
Rootstock, launched in 2018, is an EVM-compatible smart contract platform secured by Bitcoin's proof-of-work through merge-mining. Its mainnet has operated without a single outage or chain reset, establishing a record of reliability. The platform introduced the Powpeg, a consensus-governed, non-custodial bridge that enables trust-minimized BTC transfers between Bitcoin and Rootstock. Over time, it has evolved to support institutional-grade infrastructure, including the Union Bridge powered by BitVMX, which uses cryptographic proofs to eliminate reliance on fixed validator sets. These milestones—mainnet stability, the Powpeg's secure bridging, and the shift toward permissionless verification—represent long-term foundational progress for Bitcoin-based DeFi.
Upgrades and progress: Rootstock ran the mandatory Vetiver 9.0.0 consensus upgrade on April 2 and patched to 9.0.3 by June 18; a May 18 DMND partnership lets Bitcoin miners join merge-mining directly via Stratum V2; the verification-based Union bridge reached testnet on May 27 with mainnet planned for 2027; and Atlas launched on April 15 to onboard new BTCFi users.
Fundamentals: Chain TVL is about $79 million, down more than 70% from the $283 million peak in October 2025; RIF traded near $0.0742 in mid-October for a market cap around $74 million, with all 1 billion tokens circulating and no buyback or burn, leaving value capture dependent on demand for RNS, Relay and Flyover.
On 15 April 2026 Rootstock launched Atlas, a single gateway for comparing routes by speed, cost and trust assumptions when moving bitcoin, Lightning, ETH, USDT, USDC and about ten major assets onto the sidechain. Vetiver 9.0.0, released on 2 April, activated on mainnet on 4 May and laid groundwork for the Union bridge and account abstraction. On 18 May miners gained direct control of their own merged mining through the DMND pool and Stratum V2, and on 27 May the BitVMX-based Union bridge entered testnet.
Institutions and payments moved in step. Mercado Bitcoin brought more than $60 million of tokenised private credit to the network with a path to $100 million, and in July RIF was integrated into Binance Pay for roughly 48 million users in Brazil, Argentina and Peru. On 23 July the team reported 3,100 consecutive days of uptime, 84% of Bitcoin's hash rate, more than 40% of Bitcoin DeFi TVL and over 21 million transactions in the second quarter. Around the same time the Rootstock Collective TypeScript SDK and Aori's cross-chain intent settlement went live, lowering integration costs for developers.
Rootstock will advance the Fork-Aware Consensus proposal and a post-quantum cryptography migration, expand dispute resolution and fraud proofs on the Union bridge, and turn tokenised credit, stablecoins and institutional custody into standard building blocks for Bitcoin finance.
Diego Gutierrez Zaldivar — Co-founder & CEO; a blockchain and Bitcoin pioneer in Latin America and co-founder of LABITCONF.
Sergio Demian Lerner — Co-founder & Chief Scientist; a well-known cryptography and Bitcoin security researcher who designed much of the Rootstock protocol.
Henrik Jondell — Chief Technology Officer; over two decades of product development and engineering leadership.
Adrian Eidelman — Co-founder and long-time technical lead.