Bitcoin bridge: bridge native BTC to DeFi & Ethereum

Introducing the Native Bitcoin Bridge

This release sets a new benchmark in the DeFi industry.

The truth is - it does.

Symbiosis presents the Native Bitcoin Bridge.

Having it in the back office for some time to excel it before the public launch, we can’t wait to let you use it and explore the expanded cross-chain world of Bitcoin.

While you can simply go straight to the BTC Bridge, we advise you to go through this introductory article first - to present one of our key releases of 2024, step-by-step.

BTC bridge at Symbiosis: how it all started

Let’s get back a little bit on the timeline to January this year.

In the beginning of 2024, we announced the one-way Bitcoin bridge, powered by ThorChain. This event marked the first appearance of the Native Bitcoin into Symbiosis Protocol and paved the way for the upcoming Any-BTC-Any Bitcoin Bridge.

The first project blueprints and the trajectory of the full availability of the Native Bitcoin appeared in the middle of the last year. Since then - we’ve been non-stop working and enhancing our complete DeFi gateway that would connect Bitcoin the most cross-chain way possible. And we think we made it successfully!

The need for the cross-chain native Bitcoin is here

By introducing and launching the Bitcoin Bridge, we aim to solve several problems and meet the demands of the users that interact with Bitcoin within DeFi tools. There’s no need to get into the details on Bitcoin’s importance. BTC is the most capitalized asset, occupying approx. 56% of the overall market with over $1 trillion liquidity. Due to the architecture and network specifications of Bitcoin as a blockchain and a coin, the asset is not able to fully take part in the DeFi and cross-chain processesю Our Bitcoin Bridge’s goal is to remove most of these limits - by connecting BTC with Layer 2 networks and letting users move their Bitcoin funds more freely. Symbiosis is not the first protocol in the DeFi space to produce such a solution, and this is how our approach is unique in its own way.

Current state of Bitcoin bridges: problems and solutions

Our motto at Symbiosis is to deliver products that DeFi as an industry and users in DeFi deserve. Going deeper into 2024, the Bitcoin Bridge space was having several gaps:

• Wrapped Bitcoin version’s prevalence. Most bridge protocols made exactly the wrapped Bitcoin available for bridge, missing the Native Bitcoin. While several WBTC-like tokens are useful in specific occasions, the original BTC funds are being limited to entering the cross-chain;

• Inconvenient process of bridging to and from Bitcoin. When exchanging the exact funds to BTC or vice versa, users make numerous manual transfers to get to the final destination asset. It leads to the extra gas fees, change in the received amount, etc;

• Majority of BTC liquidity circulating in the centralized platforms. Some of the popular “BTC Bridges” lack the core attribute of Bitcoin - decentralization. This not only creates the space to dictate the unfair price exchange rates but also puts a risk on the funds. Also - a decentralized asset on the centralized platform? Well, that’s definitely a choice.

• Lack of pairs available for Native Bitcoin Bridge: it’s difficult when you try to bridge from Bitcoin to an ERC-20 token via one sole platform, with low fees and the amount under $100. The route may simply not exist;

We built this bridge not just for the users or businesses, but for the industry: its players and participants. It was designed to meet the needs of BTC L2 networks that can now get secured and prompt bridge for the native Bitcoin, having an opportunity to outsource the transfers of Bitcoin. If we focus more on Layer 2 networks, some of these protocols will get the Symbiosis’ version of Bitcoin - syBTC - for the Bitcoin DeFi processes. Interoperability of syBTC with restacking and staking protocols, integrating a way more convenient solution for Bitcoin exchanges in pockets of crypto wallets and aggregators’ users - our BTC Bridge is here to simplify and accelerate the cross-chain connection of Bitcoin and DeFi. And here’s what’s hidden under the hood of our Bitcoin Bridge

Spoiler: it’s not magic, just the smart contracts, Relayers, and BTC Forwarders.