BitGo's WBTC on BNB Chain

[joniboini]

I just read a news saying that BitGo has expanded their WBTC network to the BNB chain, which uses a new LayerZero standard (OFT) that allows for cheaper bridge transactions [1]. They stated that they will deploy the token on more chains in the future, claiming that it will allow users to use WBTC easily.

I'm a bit surprised considering that I thought WBTC already existed on the BNB network before, turns out that was not the case according to this news. I guess we're seeing more competition on wrapped tokens, although the nature of such tokens is a bad idea from my point of view. Hopefully, the majority of people realize this and won't store their BTC in wrapped tokens or something similar.

That being said, do you think this will increase transactions on the BNB chain, especially DEXes? I don't think exchange will change anything even if they claim this new standard is cheaper. CMIIW.

[1] https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitgo-deploys-wrapped-bitcoin-avalanche-bnb-chain-omnichain-expansion

[TomPluz]

According to Coindesk: "Wrapped tokens allow unsupported assets like bitcoin and ether to be traded, lent and borrowed on DeFi platforms." And it is wBTC that is leading the market with capitalization ranging from $8.8 billion according to Coingecko and $10 billion according to Coindesk. Now, with the coming or expansion of wBTC to the BNB Chain...will it mean more transactions in the platform? For sure there can be an increase but whether the increase can be significant that remains to be seen. Still, this is good news for BNB and is further solidifying its leadership in the crypto market.

[ABCbits]

While i'm not fan of WBTC, it's not bad thing they support many blockchain. Although for those who already use BNB Chain, they probably use "BEP20 Bitcoin" (not real Bitcoin) and see no reason switch to WBTC. So i wonder how BitGo would attract WBTC usage on BNB chain.

I'm a bit surprised considering that I thought WBTC already existed on the BNB network before, turns out that was not the case according to this news.

You probably mistook it as BEP20 (created by Binance) which tokenize many coin including Bitcoin.

[joniboini]

I guess that's possible. I don't pay attention to the name since I don't use it. Maybe they won't focus much on onboarding new users who regularly use BNB but focus on those who regularly use WBTC on ETH or other chains who like to use BNB too. I can see them saying using WBTC can help the market reduce reliance on Binance if they want to use wrapped tokens on the BNB chain. Whether that works or not is another issue.

[erus]

~snip~
That being said, do you think this will increase transactions on the BNB chain, especially DEXes? I don't think exchange will change anything even if they claim this new standard is cheaper. CMIIW.

[1] https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitgo-deploys-wrapped-bitcoin-avalanche-bnb-chain-omnichain-expansion

As far as I know, the BNB network is very large and has many users, on Binance there are also many who use withdrawals using BNB from BSC because the fees are so cheap. If Bitcoin is on the BNB network, it seems that all users will also try to switch to the BNB network.
But many say that BNB is centralized and those who have Bitcoin also think it is better to store their Bitcoin in the original Bitcoin wallet and have Bitcoin on its own blockchain because they say it will be safer if they have to move to the BNB network.

[Vision pro]

I guess that's possible. I don't pay attention to the name since I don't use it. Maybe they won't focus much on onboarding new users who regularly use BNB but focus on those who regularly use WBTC on ETH or other chains who like to use BNB too. I can see them saying using WBTC can help the market reduce reliance on Binance if they want to use wrapped tokens on the BNB chain. Whether that works or not is another issue.

The idea of reducing reliance on Binance through WBTC on the BNB Chain could be an interesting narrative. While Binance is still the backbone of BNB Chain, this could appeal to users who want exposure to Bitcoin but prefer a decentralized finance (DeFi) environment without being locked into Binance's centralized services. It could also provide more liquidity options on BNB Chain, especially if users bring their WBTC over from Ethereum or other chains..

[joniboini]

But many say that BNB is centralized and those who have Bitcoin also think it is better to store their Bitcoin in the original Bitcoin wallet and have Bitcoin on its own blockchain because they say it will be safer if they have to move to the BNB network.

I believe the target for this product is those who want to sacrifice privacy or security for flexibility to trade Bitcoin on multiple chains. After all arbitrage trading should be easier on DEX if we ignore the liquidity (unless people are fine with KYC etc). Those who want to hold Bitcoin for the long term won't touch any wrapped tokens. Maybe it also attracts interest from those who want to get passive income with staking, but I'm unsure about the numbers. Well, as long as those who use this product understand the risk we can't say much about it.

[bitterguy28]

I just read a news saying that BitGo has expanded their WBTC network to the BNB chain, which uses a new LayerZero standard (OFT) that allows for cheaper bridge transactions [1]. They stated that they will deploy the token on more chains in the future, claiming that it will allow users to use WBTC easily.

this is good then obviously the competition among wrapped tokens has increased and more and more innovation are being made which should be better for those users of such wrapped tokens

Hopefully, the majority of people realize this and won't store their BTC in wrapped tokens or something similar.

i also don’t want to do this for myself as i know that my funds will not be directly held by me so that’s a risk i do not wanna take but if other people are aware of such risks and still decide to do it then that is now their decision

[joniboini]

this is good then obviously the competition among wrapped tokens has increased and more and more innovation are being made which should be better for those users of such wrapped tokens

I'm not sure about the innovation part. They do promise lower fees but from so many L2 solutions so far the impact is small based on my experience. You could say it doesn't fulfill what I need (different smart contract calls, etc), but their claims do need verification. Not to mention BNB transactions in general are quite cheap. I think the bridging fee is the most expensive one, so let's see if they can lower it or not.

[36B]

this is good then obviously the competition among wrapped tokens has increased and more and more innovation are being made which should be better for those users of such wrapped tokens

I'm not sure about the innovation part. They do promise lower fees but from so many L2 solutions so far the impact is small based on my experience. You could say it doesn't fulfill what I need (different smart contract calls, etc), but their claims do need verification. Not to mention BNB transactions in general are quite cheap. I think the bridging fee is the most expensive one, so let's see if they can lower it or not.

Even with regard to such things as lowering of the transaction cost which one is supposed to find in new technologies, it is important to critically assess the solutions and be confident that they will address the needs of the user. Being more critical we can guarantee that the chosen technology delivers the expected values. As a positive recommendation, it is possible to engage both the developers and the users in order to come up with problem solving solutions that can better suit real needs in the field. To deal with this, we may need to open up discussions to users and take their feedback in order to gain insight into what they face and guide the development of audio technology in a more useful direction. Besides, it is possible to focus on the constructive encouragement of projects working on the minimization of bridging costs to significantly contribute to optimizing the functioning of the blockchain industry.

[ZAINmalik75]

I just read a news saying that BitGo has expanded their WBTC network to the BNB chain, which uses a new LayerZero standard (OFT) that allows for cheaper bridge transactions [1]. They stated that they will deploy the token on more chains in the future, claiming that it will allow users to use WBTC easily.

I'm a bit surprised considering that I thought WBTC already existed on the BNB network before, turns out that was not the case according to this news. I guess we're seeing more competition on wrapped tokens, although the nature of such tokens is a bad idea from my point of view. Hopefully, the majority of people realize this and won't store their BTC in wrapped tokens or something similar.

That being said, do you think this will increase transactions on the BNB chain, especially DEXes? I don't think exchange will change anything even if they claim this new standard is cheaper. CMIIW.

I also thought it would be but it was not your guess is correct we will see more competition among different networks to adopt a wrapped form of BTC which is not so demanding at the moment even I doubt if people will prefer to wrap their real BTC on BNB network.

This will increase the transactions made on BNB because new investors and technology testers will be testing this feature and thus increasing the transaction, but nothing big that can be good for it.

[yhiaali3]

In fact WBTC is just garbage that has no value in reality, they are trying to promote it as equivalent to real Bitcoin but this makes no sense at all and these centralized companies can print as much WBTC as they want on their network without it being backed by real Bitcoin assets.

There was also a thread on the forum a few days ago about Coinbase exchange launching its own wrapped Bitcoin token (cbBTC) on its Base network which is exactly like WBTC and they claim it is backed by real Bitcoin assets, but this makes no sense because there is no proof of these reserves and this is a centralized company that can freeze your assets at any time.

[Stompix]

I'm a bit surprised considering that I thought WBTC already existed on the BNB network before, turns out that was not the case according to this news. I guess we're seeing more competition on wrapped tokens, although the nature of such tokens is a bad idea from my point of view.

I'm way more surprised since I didn't know WBTC was issued by Bitgo, so now we not only have hundreds of thousands of coins locked behind ETF, Bitgo owns a ton of coins too behind WBTC, so another 150k.
We're regressing every single day!

[joniboini]

There was also a thread on the forum a few days ago about Coinbase exchange launching its own wrapped Bitcoin token (cbBTC) on its Base network which is exactly like WBTC and they claim it is backed by real Bitcoin assets, but this makes no sense because there is no proof of these reserves and this is a centralized company that can freeze your assets at any time.

I guess the demand for such products is so high that everyone wants to launch their own wrapped token for Bitcoin. The cost is probably not that much either since it's basically just printing new tokens. A terrible idea to store our wealth though. CMIIW.

Hopefully we won't see a huge crash because a protocol has been exploited and people lose their Bitcoin, just like what happened with exchanges.