tBTC

Overview of tBTC

  • The TBTC is a collaboration of researchers from the CDC, domestic and international public health departments, academic medical centers, and selected Veterans Administration medical centers whose mission is to conduct programmatically relevant research concerning the diagnosis, clinical management, and prevention of tuberculosis (TB) infection and disease.
  • tBTC is uniquely a permissionless network, meaning that there are no intermediaries for the transfer of funds between BTC, tBTC, and ETH—whereas most other tokenized Bitcoin projects rely on centralized custodians or trusted parties to hold the locked funds.
  • tBTC enables Bitcoin holders to leverage the universe of DeFi DApps built on the Ethereum blockchain—for example, a Bitcoin holder could use tBTC to utilize their BTC as the collateral for a loan issued using a smart contract-based DApp built on Ethereum.
  • tBTC works with ETH collateral on a network of blockchain validators and parties that individually contribute to the minting and backing of the asset, with activity kept in check on the blockchain.
  • tBTC has the support of dozens of industry partners, and The Keep project has now raised a total of $22 million to launch tBTC, from investors which include Paradigm and Andreesen Horowitz.
  • TBTC in single doses of 0, 29.6, 44.4, 66.7, 100 or 150 mg/kg were given to 10 male hamsters in each group and the mortality rates were determined two weeks thereafter.
  • tBTC got off to a shaky start when its first launch attempt failed after two days—undone when an untested type of Bitcoin transaction was introduced into the codebase.
  • tBTC is only possible because of the innovations within Keep that allow for private keys to remain secret while also participating on a public blockchain.
  • tBTC builds on the work token, random beacon, and threshold ECDSA keeps, and is planned to go live shortly after the Keep Network’s initial phase.
  • TBTC has sites in the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, Kenya, Peru, Philippines, Spain, South Africa, Uganda, and Vietnam.

    • Blockchain

    Conversely, the programmable nature of Ethereum, along with the liquidity and participation opportunities offered by DApps and ERC-20 tokens, greatly exceeds that of the Bitcoin network.

    Network

    Given the shared interest and technical capabilities, the benefits of a collaboration between NuCypher and Keep are compelling, especially when one considers the unique capability of the NuCypher network to deliver thousands of staking nodes as signers for the launch of tBTC v2–exactly what the new v2 design needs.Various teams have been exploring the viability of building decentralized asset bridges similar to tBTC on top of the NuCypher network.

    Support

    Allowing the large market of Bitcoin users to participate in the Ethereum ecosystem promises to provide a larger pool of potential value for DeFi projects to utilize and spark growth.On one side of the equation, tBTC has the potential to support the growth, and therefore value, of the Ethereum ecosystem as a whole.While ETH has its own liquidity and value as an asset, the liquidity of BTC is much higher than the liquidity of ETH.

    Transactions

    Signers…tBTC, which lets people use Bitcoin to access Ethereum DeFi apps, uses a system of random signing groups to process transactions.

    Could this have been avoided?

    It is very hard to write perfect code.It is even harder to write perfect code in the form of a smart contract that you upload only once and can never change.

    Could this have been avoided?

    It’s difficult to write perfect code.It’s even harder to write perfect code in the form of a smart contract that’s uploaded only once and can never be changed.

    ELI5: What is tBTC?

    TL;DR: tBTC is a protocol that enables BTC holders to trustlessly move their BTC holdings to be used in Ethereum’s DeFi.Using BTC as collateral in MakerDAO or lending out BTC in Compound is no longer a pipedream.

    How can ETH holders get involved?

    In order for tBTC to function, there must be ETH stakers in addition to BTC deposits.Staking ETH by running Keep nodes allows ETH holders to help build tBTC as a product while also earning KEEP rewards and tBTC + ETH signer fees in exchange for their participation on the network.In these first stages of tBTC development, the tBTC team is running an incentive program dubbed the “StakeDrop” to allow participants with ETH, but no KEEP, to run a tBTC Keep Node (ECDSA Node) and thus participate in the KEEP Network and earn rewards.

    How can you help?

    The communities have agreed on the broad parameters, via a snapshot of both NU and KEEP stakers that showed unanimous support for this collaboration.

    How does tBTC work?

    If you’re familiar with MakerDAO and how DAI is created, you might recognize some of the mechanics used to make tBTC possible.For example, tBTC relies on price feeds, bonds, and arbitrage opportunities to keep the system running honestly.

    How does TBTC work?

    TBTC is a decentralized and trustless system for wrapping Bitcoin proposed by Keep Project and the Cross-Chain Working Group.The goal of TBTC is to create a trustless system for using Bitcoin on Ethereum-based systems and could be seen as critical infrastructure for the success of the broader ecosystem.

    Is @keep-network/tbtc popular?

    The npm package @keep-network/tbtc receives a total of
    43 weekly downloads.As such,
    @keep-network/tbtc popularity was classified as

    limited.Visit the
    popularity section
    on Snyk Advisor to see the full health analysis.

    Is @keep-network/tbtc safe to use?

    While scanning the latest version of @keep-network/tbtc, we found
    that a security review is needed.A total of
    9 vulnerabilities or license issues were
    detected.See the full
    security scan results.

    Is @keep-network/tbtc well maintained?

    We found that @keep-network/tbtc demonstrated a
    healthy version release cadence and project
    activity.It has a community of 20 open
    source contributors collaborating on the project.See the full
    package health analysis
    to learn more about the package maintenance status.

    tBTC: A bumpy start, but a bright future?

    The tBTC platform set out on a quest for one of crypto’s most coveted prizes: connecting Bitcoin with Ethereum’s DeFi, building a bridge between crypto’s main continents, currently largely separated.however, its first iteration was very short-lived.

    tBTC: What Happens When the Most Liquid Crypto Asset Hits DeFi?

    Matt Luongo, CEO of Thesis, the parent company of Fold and Keep, describes the just-launched tBTC, his plan for a censorship-resistant Bitcoin-Ethereum bridge.He explains his personal reasons for wanting such a platform, why tBTC is different from other versions of Bitcoin on Ethereum, and how it works — including the process of becoming a signer in minting tBTC, how the system will handle crises, the reason for high collateralization levels, why staking assets are limited, and the necessity of a work token, Keep.He also discusses the economics behind tBTC-backed tBTC, his vision for DeFi, how tBTC could buffer an ETH crash, and the reasoning behind minimal governance mechanisms — playing into why institutions trust BTC more than ETH.Plus, he contrasts the Bitcoin and Ethereum communities and talks about the possibility of tBTC2.0.

    What can tBTC (and other cross-chain projects) do to ensure their systems work correctly?

    Understand the primitives of both chains.When using Ethereum, understand where the EVM falls short in replicating the primitives of other chains.Cross-chain applications bridge two worlds, each with its own time system, rules, and subtle gotchas.

    What does this mean?

    For the honest redeemer, there are no implications.The redeemer could provide any Bitcoin address, and they would receive their funds.The problem is for the signers.When attempting to prove they have sent a payment to the redeemer, the contract would not accept the proof if the redeemer has used an old format address even if the signers acted honestly.Consequently, the system would consider the signers as rogue, for not providing proof of payment in due time.At this point, any user could come and blame the signers for malicious behaviour.As a reward, the accuser gets part of the signer’s collateral.

    What does this mean?

    For an honest redeemer, there were no implications.The redeemer could provide any Bitcoin address, and they would receive their funds.

    What is @keep-network/tbtc?

    The tBTC smart contracts implementing the TBTC trustlessly Bitcoin-backed ERC-20 token.Visit Snyk Advisor to see a
    full health score report
    for @keep-network/tbtc, including popularity, security, maintenance
    & community analysis.

    What is a Bitcoin UTXO?

    Unspent Transaction Outputs, or UTXOs, are an important element to the overall functioning of the Bitcoin blockchain.

    What is an SPV proof?

    In the context of Bitcoin, an SPV proof is used to prove the existence of a transaction within a given block.

    What is DeFi? What are the benefits and risks?

    DeFi stands for “decentralized finance” and represents a category of financial products and services built on blockchain technology.DeFi does not use intermediaries like traditional financial products and services, and therefore has the potential to make financial systems more accessible to the people of the world.The development of the DeFi ecosystem further removes the traditional barriers of access to financial services, such as preferential terms, identity requirements, credit scores, and arduous pre-qualification paperwork, thus making participation in financial systems more accessible globally to anyone with an internet connection and access to crypto assets.

    What is Keep?

    Keep was developed to bridge the worlds of secure private data and public blockchains.Small amounts of sensitive data, such as private keys, can be stored off-chain but used in smart contracts on-chain in a trustless manner.This trustless aspect is made possible due to the development of Keep’s Random Beacon, a source of true randomness for selecting signers that makes collusion between signers virtually impossible.Keep also allows for private data to be held offline but stored online in nodes, enabling a variety of functions such as proxy re-encryption.

    What is tBTC?

    tBTC is a 1:1 representation of BTC on the Ethereum blockchain, such that one tBTC can be redeemed for 1 BTC.By merit of being a representation of BTC in an ERC-20 format, tBTC enables BTC holders to access the utility that various DeFi applications offer.tBTC is only possible because of the innovations within Keep that allow for private keys to remain secret while also participating on a public blockchain.

    What makes tBTC useful?

    Ethereum’s known for being the leading programmable blockchain with a wildly active developer community.Effectively tokenizing BTC without a middleman opens up a world of possibilities for users and developers alike.

    Why are people so interested in participating in DeFi generally and tBTC specifically?

    Participating in DeFi applications allows holders of crypto assets to access greater liquidity for their assets, earn yields by lending them out, and in many cases enables them to become stakeholders in value-creating networks.

    History of tBTC

  • In 2017, the company decided to switch its business to the blockchain rails in order to provide its users with such benefits as increased data security and irreversible transactions.