---
description: >-
  The build on Bitcoin movement and the capabilities of bitcoin native dApps are
  just getting started. Torram is pioneering the development of critical
  middleware for institutions natively on bitcoin.
---

# Background

## <mark style="color:yellow;">"When everyone is looking for gold, it's a good time to be in the pick and shovel business" - Mark Twain</mark>

Without oracles, Bitcoin native dApp development will always be limited.&#x20;

Despite its pioneering status and widespread adoption, Bitcoin has largely remained a passive player in the rapidly evolving DeFi sector and growth of decentralized applications, primarily due to its inherent technological limitations. This gave rise to Ethereum due to its programmability layer and smart contracts, which eventually opened to door for so many other L1 and L2 blockchains as we see them today.

Despite Bitcoin's prominence as the original cryptocurrency, its potential for supporting complex DeFi applications (and other dApps) has remained largely untapped. This gap is primarily due to its inherent technical limitations, which have hindered the development of sophisticated financial tools that can meet the needs of Dapps on Bitcoin.&#x20;

The purpose of Torram is to unlock Bitcoin’s potential as a fully functional financial network and that requires more than just new applications; it requires foundational infrastructure to support them. Torram serves as the middleware layer that bridges financial and enterprise applications with Bitcoin's base layer, \
enabling secure, real-time access to data and trustless execution of on-chain operations.&#x20;

_Middleware refers to the critical software layer that connects d&#x69;_&#x66;&#x66;_&#x65;rent parts of a tech stack, allowing applications to interact with underlying protocols without having to directly manage most blockchain complexities._&#x20;

As a decentralized oracle and indexer network, Torram provides the missing components that enable lending markets, stablecoins, tokenized assets, and institutional trading to operate natively on Bitcoin. These solutions eliminate reliance on centralized intermediaries and external bridges, allowing Bitcoin-native applications to scale securely and efficiently.&#x20;

New innovations like Rune protocol’s Fungible Tokens finally help make it possible to create institutional DeFi infrastructure natively on Bitcoin blockchain. The initiative to create Torram stems from the necessity to bridge institutional financial systems with decentralized finance (DeFi) on the Bitcoin blockchain.&#x20;

Despite Bitcoin's robust security features and wide adoption, it lacks sophisticated DeFi capabilities tailored to institutional needs.&#x20;

Existing platforms like Chainlink and The Graph offer partial solutions but face challenges such as centralization, limited on-chain data access, and insufficient query performance for institutional requirements.&#x20;

We’ve seen the rise of API3, Pyth and others, but still with their flaws, lack AI capabilities, and full Bitcoin blockchain ecosystem support.&#x20;

Torram aims to address these shortcomings by providing a robust, scalable, and fully decentralized Oracle and indexing layer that caters specifically to the complex, high-security needs of institutional players in the Bitcoin ecosystem

### Why now?

With the launch of Ordinals in Jan 2023 and Runes in April 2024 the bitcoin ecosystem is only beginning to grow. The ecosystem is expected to grow exponentially over the next 2-5 years and Torram is at the forefront of this development.&#x20;

The bitcoin ecosystem is in it's infancy and Torram is building one of the missing core and critical pieces of middleware and infrastructure to enable the next level of robust dApp development.&#x20;

<figure><img src="https://2703431279-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F4QgtiHTrBtWW7uia6DzB%2Fuploads%2FI9gQVsGrap0vv1yX5cA9%2FBitcoin-Ecosystem-update-April-2024.png.webp?alt=media&#x26;token=7ae32bbe-e2bd-434e-8fd2-30e3db009691" alt=""><figcaption><p>Credit: DIA DAO </p></figcaption></figure>



