Key Takeaways:
- Rootstocklabs launched Atlas on April 15, 2026, consolidating BTC bridging into one interface for all users.
- BTCFi is a $4.7 billion market as of Q1 2026, but most bridging infrastructure was built for developers, not end users.
- Atlas will expand to Arbitrum and Polygon soon, with custody integrations from Cobo and Fireblocks coming next.
Rootstock Releases Atlas to Replace Multi-Step Bitcoin Bridging Workflow
According to the announcement shared with Bitcoin.com News, Atlas consolidates multiple bridge options and ten supported assets into one workflow. Users select an asset and destination, and the system surfaces routing options ranked by speed and cost before handing off to the appropriate bridge or swap mechanism.
Previously, users had to compare bridge options independently, assess routing tradeoffs, and manage multi-step wallet interactions. Atlas moves those decisions behind the interface.
Rootstock is secured by more than 80% of Bitcoin’s hashrate through merge-mined proof-of-work. It is EVM-compatible, uses Solidity, and currently holds more than $269 million in total value locked across more than 200 deployed applications, including Sushiswap, Layerzero, Oku, and Money on Chain.
As of Q1 2026, the bitcoin-native finance market is valued at $4.7 billion. Most of the bridging infrastructure on Rootstock was built for developers. Atlas is the first layer built with general users in mind.
“For too long, Bitcoin’s role in decentralized finance has been defined by its limitations rather than its potential,” said Adrian Eidelman, Rootstocklabs co-founder. “It gives anyone, from a first-time user to a major institution, an easy, trusted way to put bitcoin to work without compromising the security and self-custody principles core to Bitcoin’s ethos.”
Atlas launches with support for BTC via Bitcoin and Lightning, ETH, USDC, USDT, and additional assets. The interface is designed to stay consistent as the infrastructure beneath it changes.
Union Bridge, a trust-minimized BTC bridge powered by BitVMX, is expected to begin public testing soon. When it does, it will integrate into Atlas without changing the user-facing workflow.
For institutions, Atlas includes custody integrations starting with Fordefi and Utila. Cobo and Fireblocks are listed as coming soon. A wallet-agnostic SDK for developers is also in progress, intended to let Atlas function as an onboarding layer inside third-party applications.
Rootstock’s two core tokens are rBTC, a bitcoin-pegged asset used for gas and transactions, and RIF, a token providing broader access to the Rootstock ecosystem.
EVM-compatible chain support for Arbitrum and Polygon is on the near-term roadmap. As those integrations arrive, Atlas will route users across a broader set of networks from the same interface.
Atlas is live at atlas.rootstock.io.
Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/atlas-goes-live-on-rootstock-with-support-for-btc-eth-usdc-and-more/
