Cryptocurrency custody platform BitGo is set to move its Wrapped Bitcoin business to a multi-jurisdictional and multi-institutional custody structure to ramp up its security efforts.
Currently, BitGo’s Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) custody operations and cold storage are based solely in the United States. However, according to an Aug. 9 statement, the company has begun a 60-day transition period to diversify its custodial locations and jurisdictions for the underlying Bitcoin to include Hong Kong and Singapore as well.
WBTC represents Bitcoin and enables users to communicate with Ethereum-based decentralized finance protocols and decentralized exchanges.
BitGo reassures use of same multi-sig technology
BitGo claimed that the transition of its WBTC business will make it “the world’s first multi-jurisdictional and multi-institutional custody via a unique partnership and joint-venture with BiT Global.”
The custody platform reiterated that it will continue to use the same “multi-signature technology and deep cold storage,” but now keys can be distributed in various locations worldwide, reducing the risk of a single point of failure.
It was also stated that the transition will be “both frictionless and transparent,” with completion set for October 8. A key point that was highlighted and reiterated by BitGo’s CEO was the involvement of Tron Network and its founder, Justin Sun, in the development.
Tron and Justin Sun involvement
BitGo CEO Mike Belsche acknowledged that the partnership for this joint venture includes BitGo, Justin Sun and the Tron ecosystem in an Aug. 10 X post. He reiterated that Tron founder Justin Sun will not “have the ability to move funds.” This comes amid the ongoing lawsuit filed against him by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
“We made sure to be very clear about his name,” Belshe added.
In April 2024, Cointelegraph reported that Tron asked a New York federal court to dismiss the US SEC’s lawsuit against it, arguing the regulator is targeting “predominantly foreign conduct.”
“The SEC is not a worldwide regulator,” Tron claimed about a year after the lawsuit was initially filed.
In March 2023, the SEC filed a civil lawsuit against Sun, the Tron Foundation, the BitTorrent Foundation and Rainberry over the “orchestration of the unregistered offer and sale, manipulative trading, and unlawful touting” of Tron as a crypto asset security.
The financial regulator alleged Sun engaged in “manipulative wash trading” by helping drive public interest in TRX and BitTorrent with the help of celebrities including Soulja Boy, Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul and Akon.
