Looking for a way to earn with your BTC on DeFi without selling your bitcoin? Now you can, through a simple minting process.
tBTC v2, crypto’s most secure, decentralized, and scalable Bitcoin-to-Ethereum bridge, is now live. Any Bitcoin hodler can now safely access the earning opportunities available on DeFi.
Last year was turbulent for DeFi, with the collapse of TerraUSD and LUNA, the implosion of FTX and associated hedge fund Alameda Research, and the hacks of several centralized BTC bridge solutions.
But there is a silver lining: by exposing the vulnerabilities of centralized solutions, these events have underlined how urgently the web3 world needs truly decentralized infrastructure. With the emergency shutdown of Alameda-run renBTC stranding millions of dollars in BTC assets, and the future of Ren 2.0 uncertain, the need for a robust, decentralized bridge for the premier crypto collateral has never been greater.
That’s why we launched tBTC v2, which is now live using the optimistic minting model outlined below. Fully permissionless minting is slated to be ready later in 2023.
Optimistic minting: The user’s-eye view
The process is quite simple:
- A user deposits BTC into tBTC.
- The deposit transaction is revealed on Ethereum.
- A Minter approves the valid deposit, and, pending review from Guardians, the requisite amount of tBTC is minted.
- The minted tBTC is then delivered to the BTC holder’s wallet.
To make sure this interim minting model has the level of security you expect from Threshold, we have introduced two additional roles into the process: Minters and Guardians.
Minters, a permissioned group of technically expert participants monitor the chain for valid deposits. Our Minters are among the most well-respected protocols in DeFi, and include:
When they spot a valid deposit (like yours), they put in a request to mint a corresponding amount of TBTC, an ERC-20 token fully deployable on Ethereum.
Before this happens, though, there is an additional failsafe – an automatic delay of three hours. During this period, the Guardians – a second, larger group drawn from the ThresholdDAO and the wider DeFi community – can veto any mint they deem to be fraudulent or improper.
If nothing in the process gives either Minters or Guardians pause, minting will proceed and you, the user, are free to use your tBTC in DeFi.
Click here to start minting tBTC.
Join the Threshold Discord to stay on top of the latest news. And if you want to dig deeper into how tBTC works, check out our Github.