21.co, the mother or father firm of 21Shares, has launched a brand contemporary wrapped bitcoin token, 21BTC, on the Ethereum blockchain, following the earlier introduction of 21BTC on the Solana blockchain. The contemporary Ethereum-primarily based fully fully 21BTC objectives to present users a valid and institutionally backed different to present wrapped bitcoin merchandise esteem Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC).

The starting up comes at a major time as WBTC has no longer too prolonged within the past confronted scrutiny and declining belief following adjustments in its custodial arrangements by BitGo. The involvement of controversial figures esteem TRON’s Justin Sun within the contemporary custody structure has led to a pointy expand in WBTC redemptions, signaling an absence of self belief among patrons. This backdrop of uncertainty items a likelihood for 21.co to predicament 21BTC as a extra valid and official possibility.

“As concept to be one of many sector’s largest issuers of crypto ETPs, we raise stringent asset management simplest practices and our operational excellence to the sector of wrapped property, involving institutional-grade custodians and safety protocols,” acknowledged Eliezer Ndinga, Head of Approach and  Alternate Pattern, Digital Resources at 21.co, in an announcement learn by Unchained.

Alternatively, 21shares is no longer alone. There are already several choices to WBTC, including tBTC, renBTC, and dlcBTC. Even Coinbase no longer too prolonged within the past teased that they had been launching a wrapped bitcoin product.

Furthermore, 21.co’s wrapped bitcoin on Solana has no longer been a success, with a present provide of faithful 13.5 BTC, price round $800,000 presently costs.

21.co’s 21BTC is designed with upgraded safety protocols, leveraging chilly storage for the underlying property and warding off extra susceptible “lock-and-mint” approaches. The firm partnered with Waft Merchants, a market maker, to ensure liquidity and market steadiness for the contemporary token. Within the meantime, the mint and burn task is managed by 21.co’s Onyx OS.

The timing of 21BTC’s starting up suggests that 21.co is making an are attempting to capitalize on the rising quiz for choices to WBTC, in particular as prominent DeFi platform MakerDAO (now rebranded as Sky) passed a vote to disable future borrows towards wrapped bitcoin.

Read extra: Lending Protocol Aave to Propose Onboarding TBTC in Response to Issues About Most up-to-date WBTC Custodial Adjustments