RIADeFi
Refusal file · other

Why Ketju rejected tBTC

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 Superseded versions are recorded, never edited away.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. tBTC is one of the better disclosed decentralized Bitcoin bridges, with rotating threshold wallets, governance delays, audits, a redemption watchtower, and a coverage pool. It is still rejected for the current advisor perimeter because it replaces native Bitcoin with an upgradeable Ethereum claim secured by an honest-majority operator assumption and bridge-governance parameters. The product is useful infrastructure, but no approved client use currently requires adding those risks instead of holding native BTC.

What would reopen the file

  • A separately approved client position requires tBTC and no native-Bitcoin implementation satisfies the same purpose
  • Independent operator concentration and wallet-member selection remain within a documented honest-majority stress limit
  • A proposed-size native redemption completes within the stated service level and the coverage pool can absorb the modeled wallet loss
  • Any bridge, wallet-registry, DKG, watchtower, or governance exploit opens an immediate review

Facts on file

Verdict
Rejected
Exposure
other
Chains examined
Bitcoin, Ethereum
Memo version
v1
Reviewed
Next review

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