BitGo and BiT Global are forming a joint venture to expand Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) transactions outside of the United States. However, the involvement of Justin Sun raised concerns in the community, despite assurances that transactions will remain secure and transparent.
BitGo, a cryptocurrency custody platform, announced a strategic partnership with BiT Global, a decentralized P2P crypto exchange. As part of the collaboration, BTC backing wrapped tokens (WBTC) will be stored in various jurisdictions, including Hong Kong and Singapore. The initiative aims to improve asset security by diversifying the locations where BTC is stored.
Previously, WBTC tokens backed by BTC were stored exclusively in the United States. Now, the storage and operating centers will be distributed across multiple jurisdictions to meet the growing needs of global users. BitGo representatives assured users that the company will continue to use its proven cold storage and multi-signature technologies. They also said that the transfer of assets to the new storage model will take place within 60 days and will go unnoticed by the community.
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) is a wrapped token that allows BTC to be used within the Ethereum ecosystem. Each WBTC token is fully backed by BTC at a 1:1 ratio. WBTC is being actively used in the DeFi ecosystem.
However, the involvement of Justin Sun, Founder of the TRON blockchain, raised concerns in the crypto community. Some market participants expressed concerns about the potential risks associated with his involvement, highlighting that previous projects with Sun faced operational problems and lacked transparency. The MakerDAO community even suggested closing out current debt positions with WBTC and prohibiting new borrowing against WBTC collateral to minimize potential risks.
In response to these concerns, Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo, stated that Justin Sun’s involvement won’t affect the security or transparency of WBTC transactions. He emphasized that the underlying security protocols will remain the same and that BitGo will continue to monitor all transactions as before. Belshe also noted that the keys for managing WBTC reserves will now be distributed among different parties, increasing the security of the entire ecosystem. Justin Sun assured the community that his involvement is purely strategic, with no direct access to the funds.
Wrapped tokens are very popular among users of the DeFi ecosystem, so the Australian authorities decided to impose capital gains tax on transactions with them.
