Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) and Wrapped Ethereum (wETH), the synthetic versions of the two largest cryptocurrencies, have launched on the Tron blockchain, according to a press release shared with U.Today.
This was possible because of leading digital asset company BitGo.
The rise of synthetic cryptocurrencies
wBTC is pegged to Bitcoin, the real McCoy, on a 1:1 ratio, but it is powered by the Ethereum blockchain while being compatible with the ERC20 standard.
Originally launched in January 2019, wBTC initially attracted very little attention. Last year, however, the token's growth has mushroomed, making Bitcoin part of the booming decentralized finance economy. According to DeFi Pulse, the total value locked in wBTC has hit $3.85 billion.
Similar to wBTC, wETH is also an ERC20 token. Ethereum (ETH), the native asset of the Ethereum blockchain, was created before the aforementioned standard was introduced.
BitGo acts as a sole custodian for both of these assets, which inevitably leads to centralization concerns.
Tron's pivot to DeFi
Tron CEO Justin Sun claims that the launch of these two tokens marks the "beginning of a new era" for his project:
Our blossoming alliance with BitGo has finally brought cross-chain solutions like WBTC and WETH to fruition.
While Ethereum continues to dominate DeFi, Tron has been making significant strides in this sector as well with Just Swap, JustLink and other applications:
With this partnership, JustLink, JustSwap, and TRON’s growing suite of DeFi services, we will continue to cultivate an ecosystem for our users to access their favorite cryptocurrencies with innovative financial mechanisms and high liquidity. We dreamt of providing our users with the benefits of BTC/ETH without the high gas fees and today it is a reality.
Arman Shirinyan
Gamza Khanzadaev
