While Ethereum has dominated developer attention in recent years, Bitcoin is seeing a renaissance as multiple initiatives aim to drive innovation on the original blockchain. Demand is growing for layer-2 solutions like the Lightning Network to scale Bitcoin and reduce fees as on-chain activity surges.

Major crypto exchanges have taken notice, with Coinbase finally integrating Lightning after Binance did so last year. This allows users to transfer BTC more cheaply and quickly using the layer-2 network. Well-known firms like Animoca Brands are also partnering up to build on Bitcoin through projects like the new Opal ecosystem protocol.

One major catalyst is the launch of Runes, a new token standard enabling the issuance of fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain itself. Just days after launch, Rune transactions have generated over $30 million in fees for Bitcoin miners, highlighting the growing appetite.

Beyond scaling, the Bitcoin world is seeing broader expansion into areas like DeFi (decentralized finance) which have traditionally focused on Ethereum. This multi-faceted revival could propel Bitcoin's adoption and utility beyond just a store-of-value use case.

Avalanche Partners with Stripe for Fiat Onramps

In other news, the Avalanche blockchain has integrated with payment giant Stripe to make it easier for users to acquire its AVAX token. Through the partnership, verified Stripe users can directly purchase AVAX using fiat currency and have it sent to their crypto wallets.

Eight Avalanche-based Web3 apps have also integrated Stripe to streamline the user onboarding process. Developers can embed a customized widget allowing fiat-to-crypto conversion via Stripe. This solves the "cold start problem" in Web3 where users don't have funds to pay for transactions.

By handling KYC, payments, fraud monitoring and compliance through Stripe, the integration aims to reduce friction for developers building Web3 apps on Avalanche. The partnership could drive further adoption of the network and its AVAX token.

As Bitcoin remakes itself and layer-1 networks like Avalanche build out core infrastructure, the broader crypto ecosystem continues rapidly evolving to improve scalability, usability and real-world integration.