iBTC and Garden Finance Collaborate to Enhance Cross-Chain BTC Swaps

Discover how Garden Finance's rapid cross-chain swaps and iBTC's secure wrapping combine to offer Bitcoin holders swift access to DeFi opportunities. Learn about 10-minute BTC-to-iBTC swaps, enhanced security via DLCs, and seamless yield generation across blockchains.

Author

Mayank Sachdev
October 03, 2024

Introduction

In a move set to reshape the landscape of decentralized finance (DeFi), iBTC has announced a strategic partnership with Garden Finance. This collaboration aims to enable seamless, retail-friendly swaps between native Bitcoin (BTC) and iBTC, potentially accelerating the adoption of Bitcoin in DeFi ecosystems.

Partnership Overview

At its core, this partnership addresses a critical need in the cryptocurrency market: providing users with a fast, secure, and efficient way to move between native Bitcoin and its wrapped counterpart, iBTC. By leveraging Garden Finance's expertise in cross-chain atomic swaps and iBTC's innovative approach to wrapped Bitcoin, the collaboration seeks to break down barriers between Bitcoin and the broader DeFi landscape.

Key Features

  • Cross-chain atomic swaps between native BTC and iBTC

  • Completion of swaps in under 10 minutes

  • Enhanced security through iBTC's Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs)

  • Access to DeFi yield opportunities for Bitcoin holders

  • User-friendly interface for seamless transactions

Potential Impact on the DeFi Landscape

This partnership could significantly impact the DeFi ecosystem by providing a more accessible on-ramp to DeFi for Bitcoin holders. By enabling quick and secure swaps between BTC and iBTC, users can more easily participate in yield-generating activities across various blockchain networks. This increased liquidity and accessibility could lead to greater innovation and growth in the DeFi sector, potentially bridging the gap between Bitcoin's store of value proposition and the yield generating world of decentralized finance.

“A great democratization is happening in the bitcoin interoperability space with many BTC variants finding great footing in the market due to new weaknesses in WBTC’s position. We're excited to bring iBTC to the DeFi space, secured by the Bitcoin chain itself, just like Garden. Starting today, users can to swap iBTC in under 10 minutes through our UI and SDK.”

Dude from Garden

How to Participate

  1. Visit the garden.finance swap page and connect your wallet.

  2. Select BTC as the send asset and iBTC as the receive asset (or vice versa).

  3. Enter the amount you wish to swap and provide a Bitcoin refund address.

  4. Initiate the swap by signing the order request.

  5. For BTC to iBTC swaps, send your BTC to the provided deposit address.

  6. Wait for the swap to complete (typically 5-10 minutes).

  7. Claim your iBTC (or BTC) by signing the claim transaction in your wallet.

Detailed guides for both BTC to iBTC and iBTC to BTC swaps will be available here.

Looking Ahead

As the partnership between iBTC and Garden Finance unfolds, it has the potential to significantly impact how Bitcoin interacts with the broader DeFi ecosystem. By providing a secure, efficient, and user-friendly way to swap between native BTC and iBTC, this collaboration could pave the way for increased Bitcoin participation in yield-generating activities and further innovation in the decentralized finance sector.

Company Profiles

Garden Finance

Garden is a super-fast native Bitcoin bridge, having processed over $800 million in swap volume on the mainnet. Unlike traditional bridges, it operates without centralized custodians or multi-sigs. The platform has developed a novel Hashed Timelocked Contract (HTLC) with an instant confirmation mechanism, ensuring immediate settlement and enabling users to maintain control of their assets.

iBTC

As a decentralized wrapped Bitcoin, iBTC leverages Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs) and Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) to provide a theft-proof bridge to cross-chain DeFi, backed by the security of the Bitcoin network. iBTC unlocks yield for your Bitcoin in DeFi with the benefit of lower fees and merchant self-custody, empowering users to put their Bitcoin to work.

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