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Merlin

Overview
Status
Mainnet
Type
Alt. Rollup
Fee Token
WBTC
BTC Supply
β‚Ώ0
Merlin is an implementation of Polygon CDK chain. It likely is running its rollup chain on top of a permissioned fork of the EVM.
CUSTODY
DATA AVAILABILITY
OPERATORS
FINALITY ASSURANCE
BTC Supply
Total supply per day
Supplycoming soon

TVL Data Coming Soon

We're currently gathering and building data infrastructure for this network. TVL analytics will be available soon.

Token Contracts

Token Contracts Coming Soon

We're working to collect the various BTC-backed token contracts for this network. Contract addresses will be available soon.

Risk Summary
Some contracts are upgradeable. These contracts may be related to BTC-backed tokens locked in the layer's official bridge contract.
A centralized party can immediately upgrade specific system contracts. This risk may be relevant to BTC-backed tokens locked in the layer's official bridge contract.
All BTC pegs have custodian trust assumptions
All BTC backing wrapped tokens on this network are ultimately secured by custodians. Users trust that these custodians will not misappropriate funds and keep their assets pegged 1:1. Each custodian has their own risks. Learn more in the trust assumptions review section.
Another data availability layer is used
Data related to the network's state is made available by an offchain committee. The network's state cannot make progress if this committee withholds the data. If the network cannot make progress, user funds can be frozen.
A centralized entity is the network operator
The network is operated by a centralized operator. If this operator goes offline, the network can be halted which can freeze user funds. Please see the trust assumptions to learn if their is a fallback mechanism for liveness failures.
Categorization
The project does not have an enshrined bitcoin bridge
The project does not have an enshrined bitcoin bridge that meets our sidesystem standards. Our standards require sidesystem's enshinred bridge programs to have at least 5 signers with 4 of those signers being external to the project's primary development organization.
Trust Assumption Review
BTC Custody
Very High
πŸ›‘
Users deposit funds into a MPC wallet managed by a custodian
BTC backing Merlin M-BTC is secured via an MPC wallet managed by Cobo, a institutional custodian. Information on how many signers participate in this MPC scheme is not available. Merlin has stated that more players are being added into this custody scheme.
Data Availability
Very High
πŸ›‘
State data is stored and made available by a permissioned network. The identities of its members are under review
Data is published to, and made available by, full nodes participating in a federated validator set. Running a validator and full node in this set up is permissioned.
Network Operators
Very High
πŸ›‘
Blocks are produced by a centralized sequencer and forced inclusion mechanism is unverified
Merlin chain blocks are currently produced by a centralized sequencer. It posts state updates to its parent chain which is a private network. We cannot review its trust assumptions.
Finality Guarantees
Very High
πŸ›‘
Transaction finalization occurs offchain through sequencer batches posted to a permissioned network
Merlin's parent chain is a private network. We cannot verify smart contracts related to Merlin.
Bitcoin Security
Merlin currently inherits no security from Bitcoin
In its current state, the network does not inherit security from Bitcoin.
MERL token is live, but not currently used to pay transaction fees
Network fees are paid in a BTC-backed asset on the network.
No MEV introduced to Bitcoin, but a centralized sequencer can reorder transactions
The network does not introduce any MEV on the Bitcoin L1. Users trust the sequencer to not reorder their transactions to extract MEV.
Merlin does not contribute to the security budget
The network does not currently contribute to the Bitcoin security budget.
Additional Considerations
Merlin's L1 contracts cannot be verified
Merlin Chain contracts are all currently upgradeable by an admin. The contracts it has listed on its CDKValidium can not be verified on its respective L1 blockchain.
Technology
EVM-compatible
The network uses an EVM-compatible virtual machine. The Ethereum Virtual Machine is software responsible for smart contract execution for a number of blockchains, namely the Ethereum Network. It uses Solidity/Vyper as its code and is the dominant environment for smart contract execution in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Use Cases
Onchain applications
Onchain applications are supported. Onchain applications include borrowing and lending protocols, onchain exchanges (commonly referred to as decentralized exchanges), and more. These applications are supported with more expressive smart contract environments.