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tBTC Launches on Starknet: Expanding Bitcoin’s Role in Multi-Chain DeFi

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[PRESS RELEASE – Texas, United States, June 11th, 2025]

Bitcoin holders can now trade, borrow, and execute complex DeFi strategies for just $0.01 per transaction, following Threshold Network’s launch of tBTC on Starknet. This trust-minimized protocol transforms Bitcoin into functional DeFi capital while preserving full user custody.

tBTC is now available for direct minting on Starknet via the Threshold UI, allowing users to seamlessly bring native BTC onchain without custodians or intermediaries.

With Bitcoin’s average transaction fee at $1.49 (7-day moving average, June 2025), it’s no match for Starknet’s ultra-low costs, where the same Bitcoin, via tBTC, can be traded, lent, or deployed in complex DeFi strategies for just $0.01 per transaction.

“BTC on Bitcoin Mainnet is like gold bars in a vault: valuable but unusable,” said MacLane Wilkison, Co-Founder of Threshold Labs. “At just $0.01 per transaction on Starknet, Bitcoin becomes more than a store of value — it can now be used for small to large-scale trades, executed hundreds of times a day, and as a source of capital to lend or even borrow against. This is Bitcoin as it was meant to be used.”

 

The Numbers: Why Bitcoin DeFi Struggles

Current Bitcoin mainnet reality (June 2025 data):

  • Average transaction fee: $1.49 (7-day moving average)
  • Recent peak during congestion: $91.89 (April 2024)
  • Confirmation time: 10-60 minutes

Result: Complex DeFi operations become uneconomical: even at $1.49, a $100 trade costs 1.5% in fees.

tBTC on Starknet changes the economics:

  • Transaction fees: $0.01
  • Confirmation: Instant
  • Throughput: 857 TPS (achieved in testing)

Result: Bitcoin becomes a working capital, operating at minimal cost.

What’s Coming Next for tBTC x Starknet

With the launch of tBTC on Starknet, Threshold Network is building the foundation for a Bitcoin-Ethereum economy within a scalable, zero-knowledge environment. tBTC is integrating with Starknet’s most prominent protocols to bring trust-minimized Bitcoin liquidity to trading, borrowing, and beyond.

  • Live on Launch: DEX Trading on Ekubo – Native Starknet DEXs enable deep, efficient trading of tBTC against select pairs. Users can deploy capital with minimal slippage and explore high-frequency strategies at a much lower cost.
  • Coming Soon: tBTC Lending on Vesu – Soon, users can borrow against their tBTC positions without relinquishing custody, via Vesu. This integration mirrors the success of tBTC on Ethereum, where over 25% of the supply is locked in Aave.

What Can Users Do with tBTC on Starknet

  • Execute on Select Trading and Borrowing Strategies
  • Provide liquidity at minimal rebalancing costs
  • Use Bitcoin as collateral without selling
  • Manage positions freely on DEXs
  • Trade tBTC or explore staking pairs

Enabling New Application Use Cases:

  • Streaming Payments: Enables Bitcoin-backed payments to be sent on a per-second basis.
  • Automated Strategies: Allows BTC to function within smart contract systems while minimizing gas overheads that could reduce returns.
  • Bitcoin-Powered Gaming: Facilitates microtransactions through low-cost, instant Bitcoin-backed transfers, making them viable in gaming environments.

What’s Coming Next

  1. Perpetuals & CDPs: Upcoming integrations with perp DEXs and collateralized debt protocols will expand risk-managed leverage options and allow BTC to power more complex DeFi tools.
  2. Yield Vaults: Future integrations with automated vaults will simplify liquidity management for users and unlock more opportunities with BTC on DeFi.
  3. Oracles & Liquidity Infrastructure: Collaborations with major liquidity providers and oracle networks will ensure accurate price feeds and optimal capital deployment.

“This fundamentally changes Bitcoin’s role in DeFi,” said Damian Chen, Head of Growth at the Starknet Foundation. “We’re seeing developers revisit ideas killed by high fees. Bitcoin at scale is finally possible on Starknet.”

Security Without Compromise

Unlike other wrapped Bitcoins that require corporate custody, tBTC uses threshold cryptography. Multiple independent nodes secure Bitcoin deposits, ensuring that no single entity controls funds. No KYC is required, and users maintain Bitcoin sovereignty while accessing DeFi.

Starknet’s zero-knowledge proofs provide the scaling. STARK cryptography compresses thousands of transactions into one proof, achieving 857 TPS in testing while maintaining Ethereum’s security guarantees.

How to Access tBTC on Starknet

Access tBTC on Starknet via 2 ways:

With $547 million in TVL, 193 active protocols, and over 11,000 daily users, Starknet has rapidly emerged as a hub for scalable, composable DeFi.

Starknet users can now directly mint tBTC — a fully backed, 1:1 representation of native Bitcoin — through the Threshold UI, providing them with seamless access to Bitcoin’s value without intermediaries and with full self-custody.

Additionally, users can bridge existing tBTC from Ethereum L1 to Starknet via the official StarkGate bridge, offering even more flexibility for Bitcoin holders to participate in Starknet DeFi.

Market Context

Despite a $2.1 trillion market cap, Bitcoin’s presence in DeFi remains minimal, with just $6.3 billion (under 0.3%) locked in decentralized protocols, according to DefiLlama data from June 2025. As transaction costs decline and access barriers are removed, the Bitcoin DeFi market has the potential to grow 10–15x, unlocking new utility beyond passive holding and into active, composable participation across DeFi.

tBTC has operated since 2020 as the leading trust-minimized Bitcoin protocol. Combined with Starknet’s proven 857 TPS capacity, Bitcoin DeFi can finally scale.

About Threshold Network

Threshold Network powers tBTC, the leading decentralized, 1:1 Bitcoin-backed asset for DeFi. Secured by a 51-of-100 threshold signer model, tBTC enables BTC to move across multiple chains—including Ethereum, Solana, Arbitrum, and BOB—without requiring custodians or compromising security. With $450M+ in TVL and $3.6B in bridge volume since 2020, Threshold delivers the most robust trust-minimized Bitcoin infrastructure in DeFi.

About Starknet

Starknet is a permissionless, decentralized zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup that offers high scalability, low fees, and fast finality. Powered by STARK proofs and developed by StarkWare, Starknet is designed for long-term composability, security, and developer flexibility.

Disclaimer: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those discussed. Nothing in this press release should be considered investment advice.

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Cryptocurrency

Ethereum Foundation, Whales, and Hackers: What’s Driving the ETH Sell-Off?

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TL;DR

  • Whales, hackers, and the Ethereum Foundation wallets moved over $500M in ETH through large sales and withdrawals.
  • Ethereum transfers rose to 4.6M ETH, nearing the monthly high of 5.2M recorded in July.
  • Staking inflows hit 247,900 ETH, the highest in a month, locking more supply from trading.

Large Withdrawals and Whale Activity

Ethereum (ETH) has seen heavy movement from major wallets over the past few days. On-chain data from Lookonchain shows a newly created wallet pulled 17,591 ETH, worth $81.62 million, from Kraken in just two hours. 

Over three days, two new wallets withdrew a combined 71,025 ETH, valued at $330 million, from the exchange.

One of these wallets, address 0x2A92, has withdrawn 53,434 ETH, worth $242.34 million, in two days. This includes a recent purchase of 30,069 ETH, valued at $138.46 million, during a market drop.

Major ETH Holders Offload Millions Amid Price Rally

In contrast, several separate entities have been disposing of some ETH holdings. A wallet tied to a hacker address 0x17E0 sold 4,958 ETH for $22.13 million at $4,463, securing a profit of $9.75 million. Earlier this year, the same address sold 12,282 ETH at $1,932 and later bought back part of the amount at higher prices.

A different whale sold 20,600 ETH for $96.55 million over the past two days, generating a profit of more than $26 million after holding the position for nine months. 

Meanwhile, an Ethereum Foundation-linked wallet, 0xF39d, sold 6,194 ETH worth $28.36 million in the last three days at an average price of $4,578. 

Recent sales from the same wallet included an additional 1,100 ETH and 1,695 ETH for over $12.7 million combined.

Network Activity on the Rise

CryptoQuant data shows Ethereum’s total tokens transferred have been climbing since August 9. After ranging between 1 million and 3 million ETH through late July and early August, transfers have risen to 4.6 million ETH, approaching the monthly high of 5.2 million recorded in mid-July. This increase has occurred alongside a price rally from about $3,400 to $4,600.

Ethereum (ETH) Tokens Transferred (Total)
Source: CryptoQuant

Interestingly, staking inflows generally stayed between 20,000 and 80,000 ETH per day over the past month. On August 14, inflows jumped to 247,900 ETH, the highest in the period. 

At the time, ETH was trading near $4,600. Large staking deposits reduce the amount of ETH available for immediate trading, as staked coins are locked for a set period.

Ethereum (ETH) Staking Inflow Total
Source: CryptoQuant

In the meantime, ETH trades at $4,647 with a 24-hour volume of $68.25 billion, down 2% on the day but up 19% over the week.

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Massive DOGE Whale Activity Hints at $1 Breakout

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TL;DR

  • Whales bought two billion DOGE this week, lifting their combined holdings to 27.6 billion coins.
  • A single 900M DOGE transfer worth $208M to Binance drew attention to large exchange movements.
  • DOGE broke key resistance, with momentum building for a possible push toward the $1 price mark.

Price and Market Moves

Dogecoin (DOGE) traded at $0.23 at press time, slipping 4% over the past day but still showing a 2% gain for the week. Daily turnover came in at about $6.18 billion. 

Meanwhile, the broader crypto market saw over $1 billion in liquidations. Hotter-than-expected US Producer Price Index data pushed traders to scale back expectations of a near-term Federal Reserve rate cut. DOGE had roughly 290,500 coins liquidated during the sell-off.

On the two-week chart, analyst Trader Tardigrade notes that DOGE has cleared a downward-sloping resistance line after completing what appears to be a “wave V” in an Elliott Wave sequence. Similar setups in the past, where prolonged declines stayed within falling channels before breaking higher, have been followed by sharp rallies.

Momentum gauges are also turning up. The Stochastic RSI, which had dropped into oversold territory, is now heading higher. Previous reversals from this zone have coincided with sustained upward moves. The current formation points to a possible run that could carry DOGE past the $1 mark.

Heavy Whale Buying and Large Transfers

As reported by CryptoPotato, blockchain data shows large investors have added two billion DOGE in the past week, spending just under $500 million. That brings their holdings to about 27.6 billion coins, or 18% of the supply. The buying streak has prompted speculation within the community. 

Recently, Whale Alert flagged a 900 million DOGE transfer worth about $208 million into Binance. The tracking indicates that it originated from a wallet connected to the exchange, likely as an internal activity. The address involved holds 2.88 billion DOGE, one of the largest balances on the network.

Ali Martinez also reports that transactions above $1 million reached a one-month high, with activity building since early August and peaking as DOGE traded at $0.25.

Sentiment Building

Analyst Gordon described the current setup as “a nice bit of consolidation” before a potential breakout, adding, 

“This will be one of the first coins normies FLOCK to & the pump will be MASSIVE.”

With whale accumulation rising, high-value transfers increasing, and a bullish technical pattern in play, DOGE is positioned for a potential push toward $1 if momentum holds.

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Ripple Price Analysis: XRP at Risk as Key Support Levels Could Trigger Sharp Drop

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XRP has recently entered a consolidation phase after a strong rally earlier this summer, with the price action now hovering around key resistance levels on both its USDT and BTC pairs. Yet, while momentum has slowed, the charts still indicate a generally bullish structure, with multiple key support levels remaining firmly in place.

Technical Analysis

By ShayanMarkets

The USDT Pair

On the XRP/USDT daily chart, the price is currently trading near the $3.10 mark, facing a strong resistance zone around $3.40. This follows a breakout above the $2.70 range in July, which has now flipped into a support area.

Both the 100-day and 200-day moving averages are also trending upward and recently formed a bullish crossover around $2.45, reinforcing the medium-term bullish sentiment. If the $3.40 resistance breaks, a push toward the critical $4.00 range becomes likely.

However, the RSI hovering near the neutral 50 level suggests a lack of strong momentum for now, meaning a short-term pullback into the $2.80 support zone is still possible.

This zone will be key for maintaining the bullish structure. Losing it could open the door for a deeper correction toward the 200-day moving average located around the $2.40 mark. Yet, as long as the price stays above the moving averages, the broader trend remains bullish.

The BTC Pair

Looking at the XRP/BTC chart, the pair has recently pulled back after hitting the 3,000 SAT resistance, with the price currently around 2,600 SAT.

This follows a clean breakout above the long-term descending channel and a successful retest of its upper boundary, which coincided with the 200-day moving average and the 2,400 SAT support zone. This confluence remains a key bullish technical factor, as holding above it could attract renewed buying pressure.

That said, RSI levels around 48 show that momentum has cooled after the sharp July rally, meaning XRP may continue ranging between 2,400 SAT and 3,000 SAT in the near term. A decisive close above 3,000 SAT would likely open the path to the 3,400 SAT zone, while losing 2,400 SAT could shift the bias back toward 2,000 SAT support. For now, the structure still favors the bulls as long as higher lows remain intact.

 

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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.

Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.

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