Taproot Assets v0.3 Enables Issuance Of Stablecoins On Bitcoin Network

Lightning Labs has launched the mainnet alpha of Taproot Assets v0.3, which introduces a feature-complete developer experience for issuing, managing, and exploring stablecoins and other assets on the Bitcoin blockchain.

A highlight of this release is forward compatibility, ensuring that Taproot assets will remain unaffected by any future protocol changes, providing stability and confidence for both asset issuers and users.

“We believe this new era for Bitcoin will see a myriad of global currencies issued as Taproot Assets, and the world's foreign exchange transactions settled instantly over the Lightning Network,” said Lightning Labs.

According to the company, developers now have all the tools required to transform Bitcoin into a multi-asset network while maintaining scalability and adhering to Bitcoin's core values. This development opens up possibilities for a wide range of global currencies to be issued as Taproot Assets, and for foreign exchange transactions to be settled instantly over the Lightning Network.

The integration of Lightning support is noteworthy as it will allow Taproot Assets transactions to route through Bitcoin's existing liquidity at the core of the network. This means that routing nodes can forward Taproot Assets transactions on Lightning without even being aware of it, extending Bitcoin's global network effects.

Early adopters actively collaborated with the team during the testnet development phase, with nearly 2,000 assets minted on the testnet.

The move comes amid growing demand for stablecoins, which offer enhanced accessibility, custody, and global utility, particularly in regions with high inflation rates. Taproot Assets aims to capture some of that demand by bridging the gap between Bitcoin and stablecoins.

Bitcoin is up nearly 8% in the past week.