‘TON Teleport BTC’ Launch to Enable Bitcoin Owners to Participate in DeFi on TON with Enhanced Security

By Ben Knight July 22, 2024 In Bitcoin, DeFi, Toncoin
Cryptocurrency TON from telegram. Gold coin of gram falls to the ground bitcoin. Elements of this image furnished by NASA.
Source:AdobeStock
  • TON has introduced its latest interoperability product, TON Teleport BTC.
  • The project’s details were released over the weekend and will allow BTC holders to convert traditional Bitcoins into tokens that can be spent on the TON network at a 1:1 ratio.
  • TON will back all BTC issued with equivalent reserve holdings.

The Open Network (TON) has enjoyed a lot of community attention in 2024, thanks in large to the blockchain’s emergence as home to several popular GameFi projects. Clicker games Notcoin and Hamster Kombat have amassed millions of players within just a few months, leveraging Notcoin’s speed, security and integration with Telegram to create large, engaged communities. 

But TON’s vision is to become something more than just a host for games. The protocol hangs its hat on being an interoperability network, bridging the gap between Web3 dApps and tokens. Their newest feature, a Bitcoin bridge, was announced on July 18th to much anticipation, allowing BTC holders to engage in TON’s growing DeFi ecosystem.

Related: PIXFI Token to Launch on TON Amid Explosive Growth of Telegram Games

Investors Can Swap Bitcoin Tokens With Just a Few Clicks

The new Bitcoin bridge, TON Teleport, will efficiently and cheaply let users swap their Bitcoin for TON tokens. The process won’t rely on an intermediary, honing in on the fundamentals of decentralisation that the Bitcoin blockchain introduced to the world in 2009.

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The method to transfer Bitcoin to TON is relatively straightforward.

First, investors will send their BTC tokens to a unique wallet address. Once the transaction is verified, an equivalent amount of BTC built on the TON token standard will be issued to the investor’s TON wallet. 

And that’s about the depth of it – holders can now use their Bitcoins within TON’s burgeoning ecosystem. 

TON Teleport BTC is set to go live later this year.

Blockchain Bridges Have a Dicey History – What’s TON Doing Differently?

Blockchain bridges have drummed up a lot of discourse since becoming popular in 2017. Bridges provide a valuable service – improving interoperability among blockchain token standards without relying on a third party. However, they’re not without security concerns, with several major hacks and smart contract bugs being exploited thanks to insecure bridges. 

One of TON’s first measures against such issues is its BTC reserve. Each TON-based Bitcoin issued will be backed 1:1 by the real thing – an important measure to ensuring transparency.

TON’s marketing director, Jack Booth, spoke to other security implementations the team was using to ensure the bridge’s safety.

TON Teleport BTC uses a trustless architecture to secure funds while bridging between the Bitcoin network and TON. A Simplified Payment Verification Client (SPVC) has also been implemented as a smart contract on TON. This verifies Bitcoin block states directly on the TON platform.

Jack Booth

Additionally, validators on the TON blockchain will never access single private keys, which have been compromised in the past. Rather, the bridging process will rely on a distributed public key. 

Interoperability has long stood in the way of a seamless Web3 world. TON is one of the leaders in this space, and their new BTC bridge is another stride towards a connected blockchain space. 

Ben Knight
Author

Ben Knight

Ben Knight is a writer and editor from Melbourne with a passion for all things music and finance. He enjoys turning complex topics – especially the technical details of cryptocurrency – into digestible bites that anybody can understand. He acquired his Master’s in Writing, Editing and Publishing from RMIT in 2019 and has run his own creative writing business ever since.

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