Bifrost: The Infrastructure Guardian That Transcends "Bull and Bear" Markets

In early 2026, the crypto market once again experienced intense volatility, with the prices of Bitcoin and other mainstream crypto assets plummeting sharply in a short period. Within less than a week, Bitcoin’s price crashed over 30% from near all-time highs, and its total market capitalization shrank by more than $300 billion in just a few days.

Reputable media outlets like Reuters reported that Bitcoin briefly broke through multiple key support levels, driving the global crypto market to evaporate trillions of dollars in value. Short-term Bitcoin positions worth over $100 million to $250 million were forcibly liquidated, resulting in heavy losses for investors. This rapid price and market value fluctuation reflects that the crypto market is still evolving; the sharp volatility does not indicate a decline in the ecosystem’s value or infrastructure.

However, industry insiders point out that such volatility is not an inherent problem of the crypto industry itself but a market reaction closely tied to macroeconomic factors. As some media analyses suggest, the current “free fall” is more a natural response to global economic pressures, policy uncertainties, and macro environment changes rather than a negation of the crypto sector’s potential.

McKinsey’s 2025 Private Markets Report indicates that, even under unstable conditions, global private equity continues to increase allocations to infrastructure projects. This shows that professional investors focus more on the long-term value of assets rather than short-term price swings during macro turbulence.

Despite ongoing debates about short-term market trends, one fact is becoming clearer: price fluctuations have never altered the decisive role of technological infrastructure in the industry’s long-term development.

Infrastructure is like the “heart” of the crypto market—supporting the entire ecosystem’s operation and maintaining resilience during market fluctuations. Take Bifrost as an example; it represents a new force in crypto infrastructure—focusing not just on short-term market ups and downs but providing solid support through long-term planning.

The Infrastructure Watchdogs in Crypto

If we view the crypto market as a liquidity network composed of dozens of main chains, countless applications, and assets, then what truly determines the network’s long-term operation is not the price itself but the underlying infrastructure efficiency hidden beneath the price.

Many industry researchers believe that the recurring pattern in past bull and bear cycles is: prices tend to fall periodically, but once infrastructure is adopted, it rarely exits the market.

This conclusion is repeatedly validated by the liquid staking sector. According to data from multiple on-chain analytics platforms, since 2022, even during market downturns, the staked amounts on PoS chains and the total locked value (TVL) in LST protocols have shown structural growth. This reflects not speculation but the market’s long-term demand for “capital efficiency”—how to unlock locked liquidity without sacrificing security and yields.

In this context, industry focus is shifting from “staking yields” to how staked assets are re-integrated into DeFi, cross-chain, and real-world assets (RWA) within more complex financial structures. Several research institutions have noted that liquid staking protocols across the entire chain are evolving from single-function products into a foundational “Yield Layer” infrastructure, more akin to a “settlement layer” or “liquidity hub.”

It is within this structural change that Bifrost is frequently discussed. Unlike traditional staking protocols that serve only a single chain, cross-chain liquid staking is increasingly seen as a solution to asset fragmentation in the multi-chain era. Its core value lies not in the yield advantage on any one chain but in providing standardized, composable yield certificates across different ecosystems.

Bifrost’s design is rooted in the real needs of multi-chain ecosystems. Today’s crypto world has evolved from a single-chain environment to a multi-chain landscape, with Layer 1, Layer 2, and dedicated chain ecosystems rapidly developing. More value and user experience are distributed across chains. However, most staking solutions remain limited within individual chains, leading to significant capital efficiency losses due to fragmentation.

On-chain data shows that adoption of such infrastructure is gradually increasing. Currently, Bifrost-related protocols are integrated into over 30 different ecosystems, covering multiple Layer 1 and application chains; its liquid staking tokens (vTokens) are held by over 27,000 addresses, and the number of addresses holding the native token of the protocol exceeds 130,000. These metrics are often used by research institutions as indicators of whether a “foundational protocol” has entered stable adoption, rather than short-term market hype.

More importantly, during overall market corrections, protocol-level revenue and sustainability are gaining greater attention. On-chain data shows that Bifrost-related protocols have accumulated over $8 million in revenue and maintain positive cash flow across multiple cycles. This feature is not common in the current market environment and makes it resemble traditional “long-term infrastructure” projects.

Faroo’s Success on Pharos Chain

If the underlying architecture is the theoretical backbone of technical logic, then Faroo’s deployment on the Pharos chain is a practical demonstration of Bifrost’s years of technological exploration and ecosystem development. Pharos is a Layer 1 ecosystem aimed at unifying Web2 and Web3, supporting real-world assets and cross-chain liquidity, representing the frontier of integrating traditional and emerging financial systems.

On Pharos, Bifrost provides a liquid staking solution through its SLPx architecture, allowing Pharos native assets to participate in staking while retaining liquidity. This means users can earn staking rewards and participate in various DeFi strategies within the Pharos ecosystem, enhancing overall capital efficiency. Official community releases state that Faroo is built on Bifrost’s SLPx protocol and cross-chain bridging solutions, enabling users to automatically accrue yields on Pharos mainnet tokens while maintaining liquidity.

Recently, China’s Securities Regulatory Commission issued the “Guidelines on the Regulation of Asset-Backed Securities Tokens Issued Overseas.” This regulation is not merely tightening controls but establishing a compliance framework and issuance standards. For organizations like Pharos that understand and actively plan for tokenized assets, this is a positive policy milestone for industry standardization and international expansion.

Previously, issuing tokenized securities abroad was in a regulatory gray area, causing companies to hesitate due to legal risks. Now, with clear regulatory frameworks, projects like Pharos can better plan compliant pathways, accelerating product issuance and reducing regulatory concerns.

As filing requirements and thresholds become clearer, projects or platforms that meet policy standards early and complete registration are more likely to gain domestic regulatory approval and international cooperation opportunities. Faroo’s deployment has multiple implications: it demonstrates Bifrost’s cross-chain architecture adaptability; it shows how a yield-layer infrastructure can connect native staking with DeFi applications within a new Layer 1 ecosystem; most importantly, it proves that full-chain liquid staking is not only technically feasible but is already translating into real user benefits.

Furthermore, by introducing mechanisms like OpenGov and vToken Voting, Bifrost returns governance rights to stakers rather than centralizing them in the protocol or intermediaries. This design aligns with core crypto values of decentralization and makes users genuine stakeholders. In previous LST systems, users often sacrificed governance rights for liquidity, reducing overall ecosystem decentralization. Bifrost’s governance design aims to address this structural issue, enhancing long-term ecosystem resilience.

Beyond the narratives of bull and bear cycles: returning to genuine financial needs

In highly volatile markets, stability and long-term returns are once again becoming the most critical concerns for capital. This shift is not exclusive to crypto. Whether it’s gold, oil, or Bitcoin—gradually seen as a “digital safe haven”—all are fundamentally about trading the same thing: global macro sentiment. Interest rate expectations, liquidity conditions, geopolitical risks, and risk appetite determine capital flows, not just the narrative of individual assets.

Therefore, intense volatility does not mean system failure; often, it is a natural reflection of macro cycles in asset prices. History repeatedly shows that assets that can truly survive cycles are not those chased at emotional peaks but those infrastructure components that remain in use and are continuously integrated into financial structures during downturns.

This is especially evident in the crypto world. Traditional staking emphasizes security and yields but often at the expense of liquidity, forcing large capital to be “frozen” in uncertain macro environments. As markets gradually return to rationality, capital begins to evaluate more realistically: is there a way to preserve yields without sacrificing participation in broader financial activities?

On this genuine demand, full-chain liquid staking and yield-layer infrastructure are repeatedly discussed. They do not oppose cycles but acknowledge their existence, aiming to improve capital efficiency, unlock liquidity, and enhance composability to keep assets functional across different market phases. This logic is closer to the evolution of “underlying assets” in traditional finance rather than mere speculative tools.

From this perspective, long-termism is not about ignoring price fluctuations but about a conscious choice—building foundational layers that are needed regardless of bull or bear markets. Cross-chain, composable yields, decentralized governance—these are not short-term trends but fundamental issues that become unavoidable as full-chain operation and asset fragmentation become the norm.

Bifrost founder Lurpis once said: “If you believe in a future of a globalized monetary system, where traditional finance gradually declines and AI handles most trading decisions and executions, the rational and realistic approach is simple: stop doubting, stop waiting around, and focus on developing the technology and products that the market truly needs.”

If gold’s value is not just in its short-term price but in its repeated validation as a store of value over centuries, then the true “digital gold” in crypto will inevitably emerge from those willing to endure cycles and patiently build foundational infrastructure.

Those who remain are the watchers; and those proven useful over time will become true value.