Crypto mining giant Marathon Digital is venturing into Bitcoin scaling with a newly announced multichain layer-2 network called Anduro. Unveiled this week, Anduro is intended to serve as an application layer and encourage innovation within the Bitcoin ecosystem by allowing the creation of multiple sidechains.
The programmable layer-2 utilizes a novel system called merge-mining, which could allow miners like Marathon to earn revenue from Anduro sidechain transactions while continuing to mine Bitcoin. Anduro aims to accelerate Bitcoin development and adoption by providing a platform for building sidechains that extend Bitcoin’s functionality into areas like smart contracts and institutional asset tokenization.
While Marathon helped incubate Anduro, it is intended to be community-led and driven. The mining firm said it is working on the first two sidechains – Coordinate and Alys – but that Anduro will eventually be governed by a trustless consortium called the Collective. Marathon’s CEO Fred Thiel said the company has a vested interest in supporting innovation that provides value to Bitcoin holders, and that Anduro reinforces the sustainability of Bitcoin’s proof-of-work model. As layer-2 platforms gain traction in 2023, the launch of Anduro taps into momentum around scaling Bitcoin for the future.
