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BitGo, Kyber Network and Republic Protocol have joined forces to introduce WBTC – Bitcoin-supported Ethereum-based cryptocurrency.
BitGo cryptocurrency custody companies and decentralized exchange startups Kyber Network and Republic Protocol have announced the planned launch of an ERC20 Bitcoin token (BTC) fully supported on the Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem.
Nicknamed Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and scheduled for launch in January 2019, the new token will be supported by Bitcoin in a 1: 1 ratio, the three founding companies revealed in a joint press release on Fridays.
"This initiative will bring together the liquidity of Bitcoin and the broad ecosystem of smart contract developers from Ethereum." Said Loi Luu, co-founder and CEO of Kyber Network. "Applications on Ethereum such as decentralized exchanges and financial protocols will all be able to use Bitcoin without interruption, creating bitcoin pairs that until now were impossible, and at the same time, the use of Bitcoin will be expanded thanks to More decentralized use, such as exchange, loans, token payments. "
Many decentralized exchanges and financial projects participate in the project as launch members and are committed to supporting the WBTC. These include MakerDAO, Dharma, Airswap, IDEX, Compound, DDEX, Hydro Protocol, Set Protocol and Prycto.
To add initial liquidity to the project, Republic Protocol and Kyber Protocol will push some WBTC tokens from their Bitcoin inventories and make the coins available to users through atomic exchange.
BitGo will act as the primary custodian in charge of maintaining the BTC reserves. Back in September, the blockchain security company based in the United States received status of the public trust company by the South Dakota division of the banking sector, which allows it to operate as a "regulated" custody for institutional investors.
Describing the incoming currency as a "community transformation effort", BitGo said in another declaration on Friday, the launch of WBTC is following "a significant institutional interest" in the tokenisation of assets such as securities, commodities and real estate.
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