Merlin Chain

Merlin Chain is a Layer 2 network built on top of Bitcoin, designed to extend what Bitcoin can do by hosting smart contracts, decentralized applications, and native Bitcoin assets in a faster and more flexible environment. The problem it addresses is that Bitcoin's base layer was not built for complex programmable transactions, so developers who want to build applications on Bitcoin have historically had to use other networks. Merlin Chain aims to give those developers a Bitcoin-native environment without forcing every transaction onto the base chain.

Merlin Chain uses a ZK-Rollup architecture, meaning it bundles many transactions together and submits compressed cryptographic proofs back to Bitcoin rather than every individual transaction, reducing load on the base chain. It also incorporates a decentralized oracle network and fraud-proof mechanisms to help ensure data coming onto and off the chain is accurate. The MERL token functions within this ecosystem, though the data stored here does not specify its precise role in consensus or governance, and no consensus algorithm is recorded.

Over the trailing 24 hours the protocol collected 55 dollars in fees, 449 dollars over the trailing 7 days, and 1,581 dollars over the trailing 30 days, with a trailing 12-month figure of 356,137 dollars. Fees grew 77.42 percent over the last 30 days, and the annualized figure derived from that 30-day window is 19,235.50 dollars. The ratio of market capitalization to those annualized fees stands at 1,508.16, and the fully diluted valuation to annualized fees ratio is 2,276.59, both reflecting how small the current fee stream is relative to the network's implied size. The data does not specify which parties collect or retain these fees.