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BitGo Reiterates Autonomy From Justin Sun, Tron as MakerDAO Decides to Dump WBTC
Critics of Sun's involvement don't understand the operational mechanics, the crypto custodian's CEO, Mike Belshe, said during an X Space discussion.
Updated Aug 15, 2024, 8:03 a.m. Published Aug 15, 2024, 8:01 a.m.
- BitGo CEO Mike Belshe reiterated wBTC's autonomy from Justin Sun, despite BiT Global's involvement.
- MakerDAO passed a motion to reduce its exposure to wBTC, but it will not liquidate existing positions.
BitGo CEO Mike Belshe took the opportunity of an online discussion to reiterate the safety of the bitcoin that underpins its wBTC {{WBTC}}, a token that allows the largest cryptocurrency by market cap to be utilized on blockchains other than the original Bitcoin system.
In an X Spaces discussion, Belshe reiterated that Tron founder Justin Sun does not have access to the cryptocurrency custodian's asset keys.
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Belshe's assurance came as DAI stablecoin issuer MakerDAO passed a motion to eliminate its exposure to wBTC due to concerns that a proposal to shift custody to be held jointly with BiT Global – an entity partially controlled by Sun – would centralize too much control with BiT Global.
During the online discussion, Belshe said the keys would be split between BitGo's U.S., and Singapore entities as well as BiT Global.
"There is no single party that has the ability to mint or steal from the underlying treasury," Belshe said. Community concern mostly came from not understanding the operational mechanics of the keys, he said.
Belshe also highlighted that Sun is not an employee of BiT Global. The company, he said, is structured as a public holding company in Hong Kong with a fiduciary duty to secure customer assets. Under local laws, no individual can own more than 20% of the company.
MakerDAO's decision, which becomes available for execution after 13:24 UTC on Aug. 15, aims for the organization to stop tapping its wBTC vaults for liquidity. This would prevent further borrowing from these vaults, but existing positions would not be liquidated.
Data from Dune shows that wBTC remains stable and there has been no discernable change in the volume of burns, or redemptions of wBTC for bitcoin as users look for alternatives. On Wednesday, crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) indicated it might be preparing its own wrapped version of BTC, to be called cbBTC.
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