Update, October 2026: The 9 July 2026 withdrawal deadline for Botanix has passed, and infrastructure provider Alchemy scheduled the end of its Botanix mainnet support for 1 August 2026. Botanix said the federation would sweep any Bitcoin left on the network after the deadline, and other assets left behind were described as unrecoverable. We have not found an official report on the sweep or on any later process, so if you still had funds on Botanix, check the official Botanix wind-down post and Botanix’s verified X account, and ignore anyone offering a “compensation” or recovery claim.
Botanix was one of the more serious attempts to bring Ethereum-style smart contracts to Bitcoin. Its mainnet went live on July 1, 2025, ran for almost a year without a major security incident, and is now being switched off. On June 10, 2026 the team told users to withdraw all Bitcoin and other assets from the network before July 9, 2026, after which the federation that secures the bridge will sweep remaining BTC. Botanix never launched a token and never ran an airdrop. If you used the network, this is the moment to get your funds out, and to ignore anyone offering a “Botanix compensation claim”. This guide explains what Botanix was, why it is closing, how withdrawals work and how to avoid the scams that a shutdown attracts.
What Botanix was
Botanix described itself as a Bitcoin-based EVM network: an environment where Solidity contracts run and gas is paid in BTC, with Bitcoin itself as the asset bridged in. Its key components were:
- The Spiderchain. Botanix’s design for securing bridged Bitcoin with a rotating set of multisig wallets controlled by network participants, so that no single fixed group holds all deposits for long.
- A founding federation. At launch the chain was run by 16 node operators, with names such as Alchemy, Antpool, Chorus One, Fireblocks and Galaxy among them. The roadmap envisioned staking, slashing and eventually permissionless participation; the network shut down before it got there.
- FROST threshold signatures. Any 12 of the 16 federation members could sign a Bitcoin transaction for withdrawals.
- An EVM built on Reth, with five-second blocks and average fees of a few cents.
- stBTC and pBTC. Bridged Bitcoin circulated as the chain’s native BTC, and Botanix’s stBTC product passed 50% of network gas fees (paid in BTC) to stakers.
The project raised about $11.5 million, including an early round led by Polychain Capital. Late in its life it also launched BINK, a Bitcoin-focused mobile app.
Why Botanix is shutting down
According to the team’s notice, the problem was demand, not security. Over its lifetime the network processed more than 25 million transactions across roughly 200,000 wallets, and the Spiderchain kept running throughout. But most users bridged Bitcoin in to hold it for yield rather than to transact. A network funded by gas fees needs activity, and BTC holders mostly sit still. The team also pointed to Bitcoin DeFi activity drifting toward general-purpose Ethereum Layer 2s, where wrapped BTC already has deep liquidity.
The notice describes a staged wind-down rather than an abrupt halt, and users were reminded more than once to move funds early. That is a meaningful difference from the failures this sector usually produces. Nothing was hacked, no bridge was drained, and the federation that holds the bridged Bitcoin is still processing peg-outs. The risk for users is not a missing reserve but missing the deadline: anyone who forgets an old LP position or a small stBTC balance until after July 9 is unlikely to get it back.
The decision is also a statement about tokens. Reports on the shutdown note that Botanix had originally planned a token, then decided that token launches and incentive programmes did not fit its strategy. That left fee revenue as the business model, and fee revenue fell short.
Was there ever a Botanix token or airdrop?
No. Botanix never held a token generation event, never published tokenomics and never ran a points programme with a promised conversion. Testnet activity, mainnet bridging and stBTC staking did not earn any token allocation, because no token exists. The shutdown makes this final: a closing network has no reason to launch one.
This matters because shutdowns are fertile ground for scams. Expect “Botanix airdrop before shutdown”, “BOTX token claim” and “Spiderchain refund portal” pages. All of them are fake. The only official action requested of users is to withdraw their own assets.
Key dates and network details
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Mainnet launch | July 1, 2025 |
| Shutdown notice | June 10, 2026 |
| Withdrawal deadline | Before July 9, 2026 |
| After the deadline | Federation sweeps remaining BTC; other tokens left on the chain may be unrecoverable |
| Chain ID | 3637 |
| Gas token | BTC |
| Explorer | botanixscan.io |
| RPC | rpc.botanixlabs.com (Ankr also listed) |
These values are from the chain information page in the official Botanix docs. If you added the network to your wallet from any other source, compare it before signing anything.
How withdrawals from Botanix work
The official bridge has two directions. Peg-ins (BTC into Botanix) needed 18 Bitcoin confirmations, roughly three hours. Peg-outs, which is what matters now, work like this according to the docs:
- Burn on Botanix. You call the burn function on the minting contract through the official bridge interface, entering the amount and a Bitcoin address you control. Your BTC on Botanix is destroyed immediately.
- Federation queues the withdrawal. Federation members see the burn and add it to a shared withdrawal queue.
- Batching. Every ten Botanix blocks, roughly once a minute, an epoch block triggers processing. Members select UTXOs, calculate fees and batch pending withdrawals into one Bitcoin transaction.
- Threshold signing. Twelve of sixteen members sign with FROST.
- Broadcast. The transaction goes to the Bitcoin network. Your withdrawal is complete once it confirms.
Bitcoin network fees and bridge costs are deducted dynamically, and minimum withdrawal amounts apply. If your balance is below the minimum, you may not be able to peg out directly; check the bridge interface early rather than on the last day.
A practical exit checklist
- Find every position. Search each of your addresses on botanixscan.io. Look beyond plain BTC: stBTC, LP tokens, lending deposits and stablecoins all need to be unwound.
- Unwind DeFi first. Withdraw liquidity, repay loans and redeem stBTC back to BTC inside the relevant apps. A peg-out only moves BTC, so other tokens must be converted or moved via a supported cross-chain route first.
- Keep some BTC for gas. Every action on Botanix costs a small amount of BTC. Do not swap your entire balance into something else before you finish.
- Use the official bridge link. Reach it from botanixlabs.com or the docs’ bridge user manual, not from search ads or social replies.
- Double-check the destination address. Peg-outs go to a native Bitcoin address. Paste it, then verify the first and last characters against your wallet.
- Consider documented cross-chain routes for non-BTC tokens. The docs list Chainlink CCIP and LayerZero/Stargate integrations; only use routes the docs or the token issuer name.
- Do it well before July 9. Batches, Bitcoin congestion and app front ends going offline can all add delay. Waiting for the final days is the main avoidable risk.
- Revoke approvals afterwards. Once your funds are out, revoke token approvals you granted to Botanix apps so they cannot be abused if a front end is later hijacked.
What about the testnet?
Botanix also ran public testnets, including a single-node stage and federation testnets before mainnet. Testnet BTC never had value, and the wind-down notice concerns mainnet assets. There is nothing to withdraw from testnet, and no reason to expect it to outlive the mainnet. If you were farming the testnet in hope of a token, that path is closed.
Spotting fake Botanix claim and refund pages
- Official domains: botanixlabs.com and docs.botanixlabs.com, with the bridge reached from those pages. The explorer is botanixscan.io. Old “.dev” testnet routes and lookalike domains should not be trusted.
- Official X account: @botanix. Shutdown instructions came from the team’s own posts; impersonators reply under them with “claim” links.
- No compensation or token claim exists. The team has not announced any payout, refund or token for users. Your remedy is withdrawing your own funds.
- Nobody needs your seed phrase to withdraw. A peg-out is a signed transaction from your wallet. “Support agents” offering to process it for you are thieves.
- Beware “deadline extension” messages. Any change to the July 9 date would come from official channels, not a DM.
For a project where a real claim did take place, compare our WalletConnect WCT claim-safety guide.
FAQ
Is Botanix shutting down?
Yes. The team announced the wind-down on June 10, 2026 and asked users to withdraw everything before July 9, 2026.
What happens to funds left on Botanix after July 9?
The federation plans to sweep remaining Bitcoin. Other tokens left on the chain may not be recoverable.
Did Botanix ever have a token?
No. A token was considered early on, but the team decided against it, and none was ever launched.
How long does a peg-out take?
The federation processes withdrawals in batches roughly every minute, plus the time for the Bitcoin transaction to confirm. Congestion near the deadline could slow this down.
Is my stBTC automatically converted?
Do not assume so. Redeem it to BTC and peg out yourself before the deadline.
Verdict
Botanix delivered working technology and still could not find enough paying activity, which is a useful data point for the whole Bitcoin Layer 2 sector. For users, the advice is short: withdraw now through the official bridge, verify every address, and ignore any claim, refund or token offer using the Botanix name. There never was a Botanix airdrop, and there will not be one on the way out.
Bridge withdrawals carry fee, timing and operational risk, especially near a deadline. This guide is general information and not financial advice.
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