CkBTC will soon bridge to the Cosmos ecosystem via decentralized exchange Osmose.
Concerns have been building for weeks about Tron founder Justin Sun’s perceived influence in WBTC, prompting competitors to offer alternatives.
Chain-key bitcoin (ckBTC), a non-custodial Bitcoin token based on the Internet Computer blockchain (ICP), will soon bridge to the Cosmos ecosystem via decentralized exchange (DEX) Osmose.
It is the “first time a proven, secure, non-custodial BTC is coming to the Cosmos ecosystem,” according to an emailed announcement on Wednesday.
The development comes as more decentralized finance (DeFi) developers are increasingly looking for ways to export bitcoin (BTC), which has by far the largest market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies, worth $1.2 trillion, to other blockchains -ecosystems.
Although Cosmos’ ATOM token is only the 19th largest cryptocurrency by market cap in the CoinDesk 20 index, valued at $1.6 billion, the project has outsized influence in the industry due to its affiliate network architecture – a blueprint followed by many other blockchains – and its technology has been used as the basis for several major decentralized finance (DeFi) projects.
Osmosis has partnered with the ICP-built Omnity Network to provide a service for bridging non-custodial BTC to Cosmos.
CkBTC is a type of Bitcoin token that is pegged 1:1 to the value of BTC, allowing users to store their assets in the world’s largest cryptocurrency while using it on other networks.
The most common existing token of this kind is the Ethereum-based Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC). However, in recent weeks, concerns have arisen about Tron founder Justin Sun’s perceived influence in BitGo, custodian of the underlying assets in WBTC.
Last month, BitGo proposed sharing WBTC custody with BiT Global, an entity partially controlled by Sun, raising concerns that the deal would centralize too much control with BiT.
The fallout from that episode galvanized competitors who offered an alternative version of WBTC, including dlcBTC and Threshold’s tBTC as well as ckBTC.
Read more: BitGo reiterates Justin Sun and Tron’s autonomy while MakerDAO decides to ditch WBTC