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Refusal file · other

Why Ketju rejected Binance-Peg BTCB

Memo v1Published by Ketju Research

A registry memo, published verbatim and versioned. Superseded versions are recorded, never edited away. A rejection is a judgment for Ketju's client base and thesis, not a universal safety claim. Not investment, legal, tax, or compliance advice.

The memo

REJECTED. BTCB is a single-entity custodial claim on Bitcoin, not Bitcoin: Binance mints it 1:1 on BNB Smart Chain under an upgradeable-proxy contract Binance itself controls, and redemption requires depositing BTCB into a Binance.com account rather than a permissionless on-chain burn-and-claim. That combination — one entity holding custody of the reserve, upgrade authority over the token's logic, and the only redemption gate — is the same class of instrument this registry already rejects for CEX-issued liquid-staking tokens under the cex-wrapped-staking rule, applied here to Bitcoin instead of staked ETH or SOL. No independent reserve attestation for BTCB specifically was identified.

What would reopen the file

  • Binance publishes an independently audited, real-time proof-of-reserves attestation for BTCB specifically, not an aggregate exchange figure
  • A genuinely permissionless burn-and-release redemption path is demonstrated that does not require a Binance.com account
  • The upgradeable-proxy admin key is transferred to a disclosed multisig with published signers, or the contract is demonstrated immutable
  • No realized freeze or blacklist event against BTCB holders occurs for 12 consecutive months after blacklist capability, or its confirmed absence, is publicly disclosed

Facts on file

Verdict
Rejected
Exposure
other
Chains examined
BSC
Instruments
BTCB
Memo version
v1
Reviewed
Next review

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