Merlin Chain Bitcoin L2 with EVM compatibility. Largest TVL among Bitcoin L2s (early 2026, $1.7 billion in locked assets, 150+ dApps deployed). Architecture - ZK rollup posting state commitments to Bitcoin. - EVM execution . - Federation peg for BTC bridging. - Native token : MERL. Ecosystem - DeFi : lending, AMMs, stable coins. - Inscriptions / Ordinals integrations . - Cross-chain bridges to Ethereum L2s. Position The "leading TVL" Bitcoin L2 in 2025-2026, though TVL is partly inflated by yield-farming incentives. Critique: heavy reliance on federation for now, slower path to trust-minimiza…