Recently, crypto asset custodian BitGo announced that it will create a joint venture with BiT Global to provide multi-jurisdictional custody for WBTC, in order to diversify WBTCs custody and cold storage business across multiple jurisdictions. The new solution will use the same BitGo multi-signature technology and cold storage technology used to protect Bitcoin since 2019, with a transition period of 60 days and no interruption or disruption of service.
BitGo announced its partners on its official website, including Justin Sun, the founder of TRON. This news has sparked widespread discussion in the crypto community. In response, Justin Sun said that his personal participation in WBTC is purely strategic, and he neither controls the private keys of WBTC reserves nor can he move any BTC reserves.
He also emphasized that the goal of participating in some projects in the industry is to promote projects committed to decentralization, secure protocols, and security. “WBTC is an important part of the DeFi ecosystem, and I look forward to ensuring it continues to be so!”
WBTC (Wrapped BTC), also known as wrapped Bitcoin, is an ERC-20 token issued by BitGo on the Ethereum blockchain and supported by Bitcoin 1:1. WBTC is already one of the largest Bitcoin DeFi applications. According to the official website, WBTC has 74 partners and already supports Ethereum, TRON, Base, Kava, and Osmosis.
Since WBTC was established in 2019, Bitgo has been its custodian, responsible for the safekeeping of all underlying bitcoins and the private keys of smart contracts for minting WBTC tokens. As the worlds largest independent custodian of digital assets, Bitgo has a high reputation in the industry, and its shareholders include well-known institutions such as Goldman Sachs. According to media reports, BitGos Bitcoin transactions once accounted for 20% of the global scale.
As a vital part of Bitcoin in Defi applications, WBTC is the main channel for providing basic liquidity for Defi projects. It mainly connects and serves Bitcoin users around the world through the WBTC merchant network.
The core appeal of WBTC is decentralized management and ensuring the high security of the underlying Bitcoin asset custody. After 5 years of successful development, WBTCs peak value has reached more than 20 billion US dollars, playing an increasingly important role as a basic liquidity provider in the entire Web3 ecosystem. How to further enhance WBTCs international operations and platform risk management capabilities is an important strategic consideration for Bitgo as a custody operation platform.
Justin Sun attaches great importance to the decentralization of crypto projects. He believes that BitGos move to diversify its operating platforms will make WBTC more decentralized and international, allowing the community to further become the leader and promoter of the DeFi ecosystem.
In response to the discussion among some users in the community who did not quite understand the new trend, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe responded to the discussion triggered by the tweet, saying, As a licensed custodian, BiT Global has a complete team system to manage customer accounts. They are obligated to properly keep assets in accordance with regulatory compliance requirements.
In addition, Mike Belshe also refuted the news that MakerDaos so-called proposal to delist WBTC was proven to be false.
