Summary
Ketju does not approve Binance Bitcoin (BTCB): Binance alone holds the BTC reserve, controls upgrades to the token contract, and is the only place a holder can redeem. BTCB is a custodial claim on Bitcoin issued by one company. Binance mints it 1:1 on BNB Smart Chain under an upgradeable proxy contract that Binance controls. To redeem, a holder must deposit BTCB into a Binance.com account; there is no permissionless on-chain burn-and-claim process. BTCB has the same structure that Ketju's class rule for exchange-issued staking tokens covers, applied to Bitcoin instead of staked ETH or SOL. We found no independent reserve attestation for BTCB.
Review triggers
- Binance publishes an independently audited, real-time proof-of-reserves attestation for BTCB itself, not an aggregate exchange figure
- Binance demonstrates a permissionless burn-and-release redemption that does not require a Binance.com account
- The upgradeable-proxy admin key moves to a disclosed multisig with published signers, or the contract is shown to be immutable
- No freeze or blacklist of BTCB holders occurs for 12 months in a row after Binance publicly discloses whether it can blacklist
Facts
- Verdict
- Not approved
- Type
- Other
- Chains examined
- BSC
- Instruments
- BTCB
- Reviewed
- Last confirmed