What is tBTC?

tBTC is a decentralized wrapped Bitcoin that is backed 1:1 by Bitcoin on the main-net. It offers users the ability to unlock their Bitcoin's value for various financial activities such as borrowing, lending, minting stablecoins, and providing liquidity. Unlike traditional solutions that rely on centralized intermediaries for converting Bitcoin to Ethereum tokens, tBTC utilizes a group of operators on the Threshold Network to secure deposits using threshold cryptography.

The Threshold Network was formed from the merger of NuCypher and Keep networks, creating a decentralized platform for web3 applications with services governed by a DAO. Within this framework, operators are randomly selected and rotate weekly, minimizing the risk of collusion among them. The network also includes features such as Threshold Access Control and an emergency insurance backstop to protect against wallet compromises, as well as its own stablecoin, thUSD, which is overcollateralized using ETH and tBTC.