About

The wbtc.network was initially created to provide a 1:1 backed BTC token usable on decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on Ethereum. As of Jan. 31, 2024, the protocol enables users to mint and redeem ERC-20 WBTC on Ethereum and TRC-20 WBTC on TRON at a 1:1 ratio for BTC. Furthermore, users can mint and redeem TRC-20 WETH on TRON at a 1:1 ratio using ERC-20 WETH on Ethereum.

History

The wbtc.network was introduced on Oct. 26, 2018, as a joint initiative by BitGo, Kyber Network, and Ren (formerly Republic Protocol). BitGo’s introductory blog post can be read here, Kyber Network’s here, and Ren’s here. The protocol was created to provide a 1:1 backed BTC token usable on DeFi applications.

Source: whitepaper (pg. 3)

ERC-20 WBTC was deployed on Ethereum on Nov. 24, 2018, with full mint and burn functionality for users and merchants becoming available on Jan. 31, 2019. ERC-20 WBTC issuance at launch was initially facilitated by eight merchants: AirSwap, Dharma, ETHfinex, GOPAX, Kyber Network, Prycto, Ren, and Set Protocol.

The TRC-20 WBTC and TRC-20 WETH contracts were deployed on Dec. 17, 2020.

On Dec. 13, 2022, the project team announced it had received the 11 required signatures from previous WBTC DAO members to transition to a new WBTC DAO. The previous DAO multi-sig contract required 11 of 18 signers to process a transaction, while the new DAO multi-sig requires 8 of 13 signers.

On April 14, 2023, the project team announced it had initiated the recovery of 14 WBTC accidentally sent to the WBTC token contract. A review of the GitHub dedicated to the recovery found the WBTC had been recovered and is held by the WBTC DAO, although it has yet to be airdropped to affected users.

As of Jan. 31, 2024:

• ~157,804.05 ERC-20 WBTC are in circulation on Ethereum, with ~158,368.94 BTC held by BitGo. WBTC was last minted on Ethereum on Jan. 29, 2024.
• ~99.89 TRC-20 WBTC are in circulation on TRON, with ~100 BTC held by BitGo. WBTC was last minted on TRON on Dec. 30, 2020.

Of note, the project’s whitepaper (pgs. 9 to 10) discusses plans to launch an Ethereum sidechain for WBTC. However, as of Jan. 31, 2024, the sidechain has not been launched, and a commercially reasonable search found no disclosures from the project team as to whether they still intend to launch it.