What Fairgate does

Fairgate Labs Ltd. is a privately held Bitcoin infrastructure company founded in 2023 and incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, with primary engineering and R&D operations in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The company develops protocol-level infrastructure for Bitcoin, centered on two core technologies: BitVMX, an RISC-V-compatible framework for optimistic execution of arbitrary programs on Bitcoin based on N-party disputable computation, and Bit2, a settlement and coordination layer enabling autonomous AI agents and sovereign users to transact trustlessly on Bitcoin with sub-400ms pre-confirmations, confidentiality by default, and a ~4-byte L1 footprint per transaction. Supporting products include Union Bridge (a trust-minimized Bitcoin-to-Rootstock bridge using BitVMX fraud proofs with 1-of-N honesty assumption) and Cardinal (a Bitcoin Ordinals-to-Cardano bridge).

Fairgate operates a product-led, developer-centric go-to-market leveraging open-source distribution via GitHub, industry conference participation, and two newsletters (Computing on Bitcoin and Agentic Economy Briefing). Its primary distribution and revenue channels are strategic partnerships, most notably the BitVMX FORCE alliance with RootstockLabs and Input | Output (the research engineering company behind Cardano), formed in April 2025. Revenue mechanics are not publicly disclosed but are understood to include protocol licensing and co-development arrangements, infrastructure services, and potentially future fees from Bit2 Timestamping Service Providers (TSPs). The company has published twelve or more technical papers, achieved the first-ever Bitcoin-to-Cardano Ordinals transaction in May 2025, and deployed Union Bridge to Rootstock Testnet in May 2026 with mainnet targeted for 2027. The company has not disclosed any institutional funding or revenue figures and appears to be founder-financed, with a headcount of 11-50 employees led by co-founders Jonatan Altszul (CEO, formerly founder/CEO of Core Security Technologies), Sergio Lerner (CTO, co-founder of RSK Labs/Rootstock), and Ariel Futoransky (CSO).

Name

Fairgate

Legal name

Fairgate Labs Ltd.

Website

https://fairgate.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Fairgate Labs builds Bitcoin Layer-2 infrastructure — BitVMX for disputable computation and Bit2 for agentic payments — serving developers, blockchain projects, and enterprises via the BitVMX FORCE alliance with RootstockLabs and Input | Output.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Blockchain Infrastructure / Bitcoin Layer-2 Protocol

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)

akta.pro primary industry

Smart Contract Developer Platforms & Tooling (SDKs, APIs, frameworks, indexing) (FSAPAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Data Availability & Modular Infrastructure (DA layers, erasure coding, sampling) (FSAPAAAD)

Keywords

• Bitcoin infrastructure
• Layer-2 protocols
• Cross-chain bridges
• Zero-knowledge proofs
• Disputable computation

Headquarters

HQ city

Road Town, Tortola

HQ country

British Virgin Islands

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Timestamping Service Fees: Timestamp Service Providers (TSPs) in the Bit2 network provide timestamping services to users, potentially charging fees for commitments. Users may purchase prepaid stamp bundles (e.g., 100 stamps for $1) or pay per timestamp request via payment channels.
2. Protocol Licensing & Development: Fairgate develops and licenses protocol technology (BitVMX, Bit2) to blockchain projects and enterprises. Revenue generated through strategic partnerships with companies like RootstockLabs for bridge development and ecosystem integration.
3. Infrastructure Services: Building and operating infrastructure components including bridges (Union Bridge), TSP services, and development toolchains for the BitVMX ecosystem.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Fairgate develops and licenses Bitcoin Layer-2 protocol infrastructure, principally Bit2 (a settlement and clearing layer for trustless, privacy-preserving agent and stablecoin payments on Bitcoin) and BitVMX (a framework for N-party disputable computation enabling arbitrary program execution on Bitcoin). It also builds trust-minimized cross-chain bridges (Union Bridge for Rootstock, Cardinal for Cardano) and the supporting cryptographic primitives (ESSPI, BATTLE, FLEX, WISCH, TOOP, OHMG). Distribution is via open-source publication, strategic partnerships with RootstockLabs and Input | Output, and enterprise protocol licensing.

Product overview

Fairgate is a Bitcoin infrastructure company that has developed a portfolio of products centered on Bit2 (an agentic payment settlement layer for trustless transactions on Bitcoin) and BitVMX (a foundational framework for disputable computing on Bitcoin). The product ecosystem includes Union Bridge (a trust-minimized Bitcoin-Rootstock bridge), Cardinal (a Bitcoin Ordinals-to-Cardano bridge), and the BitVMX FORCE alliance with RootstockLabs and Input | Output. These products work together to enable scalable computation, verifiable off-chain execution, and cross-chain DeFi functionality on Bitcoin, forming the infrastructure for the emerging agentic economy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bit2: A clearing and coordination layer designed to enable autonomous systems to transact and coordinate directly on Bitcoin, providing infrastructure for the emerging agentic economy.
• BitVMX
• Union Bridge
• Cardinal
• BitVMX FORCE

Products and services

• Bit2 Bit2 is a Layer-2 settlement and clearing layer for Bitcoin that enables autonomous AI agents and sovereign users to transact trustlessly. It provides ~400ms pre-confirmations, full confidentiality by default via client-side validation and zero-knowledge proofs, a ~4 byte L1 footprint per transaction, and self-custody properties including Unilateral Access, Uncensorable Exit, and Mass Exit Safety. It supports stablecoins as first-class citizens and optional payment channels for ultra-low-latency nanopayments.
• BitVMX BitVMX is a framework for N-party disputable computation on Bitcoin, enabling universal computation through optimistic verification. It supports RISC-V compatibility and serves as the foundational technology for trust-minimized Bitcoin bridges and other protocols requiring verifiable off-chain execution.
• Union Bridge

Quantifiable outcome

• ~4 bytes L1 space per confidential transaction vs ~40 for optimistic rollups
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Union Bridge (Rootstock Testnet)flagshipTechnology or Integration · 28 May 2026Union Bridge reached live deployment on Rootstock Testnet in May 2026, accessible via Rootstock's Atlas interface. First public milestone validating non-custodial, permissionless bridge mechanism. Core components progressively open sourced with community testing phase.
• BitVMX AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 May 2025The BitVMX Alliance includes Fairgate, RootstockLabs, and Input | Output, focused on expanding Bitcoin's utility through BitVMX technology. The alliance enables Cardano integration for Bitcoin Ordinals and drives cross-chain DeFi capabilities. Charles Hoskinson (IO CEO) publicly endorsed BitVMX as foundational for Bitcoin DeFi.
• RootstockLabsflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 April 2025Fairgate and RootstockLabs formed the BitVMX FORCE alliance alongside Input | Output to advance BitVMX as the leading framework for disputable computing on Bitcoin. Fairgate Labs participated in design and development of Union bridge based on BitVMX technology. Union is designed to become one of the most trust-minimized Bitcoin bridges with EVM execution, using BitVMX fraud proofs for correct peg-out validation.
• Input | Output (IO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 April 2025IO (the research engineering company behind Cardano) joined BitVMX FORCE alliance with Fairgate and RootstockLabs. IO and Fairgate collaborated on Cardinal protocol enabling first Bitcoin Ordinals bridge to Cardano. IO showcased BitVMX-powered lending and trustless swaps at Bitcoin 2025 Conference. Joint technical workshop held September 2025 in Buenos Aires.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• RootstockLabs: RootstockLabs operates the RSK/Rootstock EVM-compatible Bitcoin sidechain and is Fairgate's flagship BitVMX FORCE alliance partner. They are directly comparable as Bitcoin L2/sidechain infrastructure providers targeting smart-contract programmability on Bitcoin, with overlapping R&D and ecosystem roles.
• Stacks (now Stack): Stacks is a Bitcoin L2 focused on smart contracts and programmability using Clarity. It competes directly with BitVMX for Bitcoin L2 programmability mindshare and developer adoption, targeting the same Bitcoin-anchored smart contract opportunity.
• Lightning Labs: Lightning Labs develops the Lightning Network, the dominant Bitcoin L2 payment layer. Bit2 is explicitly positioned as an alternative to Lightning for payments (with payment proofs and stablecoin support), making Lightning the most direct competitor for Bitcoin-native payment use cases.
• Botanix Labs: Botanix is an EVM-equivalent Bitcoin L2 using a proof-of-stake spiderchain. It directly competes with Bit2/Rootstock for EVM-on-Bitcoin smart contract and payment workloads.
• Citrea: Citrea is a Bitcoin L2 that uses validity (ZK) proofs to scale Bitcoin programmability. It competes with Bit2/BitVMX on the same Bitcoin L2 design space, pursuing alternative cryptographic verification (ZK vs optimistic) for the same market.
• Babylon: Babylon provides Bitcoin staking and shared-security infrastructure enabling other chains (including Cosmos chains and Bitcoin L2s) to leverage BTC security. It is comparable as core Bitcoin infrastructure that other Bitcoin L2s/protocols integrate with.
• Interlay: Interlay built interBTC, a trust-minimized wrapped-Bitcoin bridge, and is also working on Bitcoin L2 infrastructure. Directly comparable to Fairgate's bridge and L2 strategy, including the trust-minimized bridge design pattern.
• Alpen Labs (Strata): Alpen Labs (formerly Strata) is building Strata, a Bitcoin L2 for programmability and asset issuance. It is a direct competitor in the Bitcoin L2 design space with comparable developer-targeted positioning.
• Chainway: Chainway is building a Bitcoin L2 (Citrea-adjacent ecosystem, supported by Babylon) targeting payments and programmability. It is comparable as an early-stage Bitcoin L2 protocol pursuing similar markets to Bit2.

Emerging players

• RISC Zero: RISC Zero provides a RISC-V zkVM that enables verifiable computation across multiple blockchains, including emerging Bitcoin ZK proof efforts. It overlaps with BitVMX's RISC-V-based verifiable computation focus but uses ZK proofs instead of optimistic/fraud-proof verification.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FairGateLabs
• GitHubgithub.com/FairgateLabs
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Fairgate_Labs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fairgate-labs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fairgate