Threshold Network: The First Truly Decentralized BTC-ETH Bridge

Despite being the world’s first crypto coin, Bitcoin (BTC) has lagged far behind Ethereum in terms of use cases. The only use case for Bitcoin until now has been as an investment asset. In contrast, the Ethereum blockchain’s token, ETH, has emerged as more than just a digital currency. ETH facilitates use of the Ethereum platform for the development of other cryptos, and for the execution of smart contracts and decentralized applications. While Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) enables BTC to be used on Ethereum, a third-party custodian must still convert BTC into WBTC. Threshold Network overcomes this security issue with its fully decentralized BTC-ETH Bridge.

What Is Threshold Network?

Launched in January 2022, Threshold Network is the first-of-its-kind product of a merger between two decentralized protocols — NuCypher (NU) and Keep Network (KEEP) — to provide full security and privacy to its users. Threshold Network takes its structural elements from Keep Network, and privacy elements from NuCypher. The combined network provides a suite of Threshold cryptography services that aim to solve some of the biggest concerns around privacy, as well as granting users full sovereignty over their digital assets on the public blockchain. Its services include proxy re-encryption service (PRE) and the tBTC bridge protocol.

Proxy Re-Encryption Service (PRE)

The growth of blockchain-based decentralized apps (DApps) is enabling the growth of a new era of the internet, also popularly referred to as web3. However, the current web3 platforms built on public blockchains present risks to user privacy. Through proxy re-encryption service (PRE), Threshold Network provides a unique solution for user privacy concerns in web3. The proxy re-encryption allows users to control access to sensitive data on public networks without exposing the underlying data to any external party or validator.