Permissionless Bitcoin Debuts on Solana With Zeus Network’s $zBTC

Zeus Network, a Bitcoin-Solana communication protocol, has launched the Apollo Bitcoin exchange on Solana, further bridging the gap between the two networks.

Apollo’s launch marks a key milestone for Solana DeFi, introducing a permissionless $BTC-pegged asset, $zBTC, to the chain for the first time in its history.

Can $zBTC reimagine Bitcoin liquidity on Solana and challenge incumbents like $wBTC and $cbBTC?

$zBTC Launches on Solana

On March 27, Zeus Network brought $zBTC to life, launching the Apollo Bitcoin exchange and expanding Bitcoin fluidity and composability on Solana. Alongside the Apollo exchange, Zeus Network also launched Solana’s first-ever permissionless Bitcoin-pegged token, $zBTC.

 

The Apollo exchange enables users to permissionlessly lock native $BTC on the Bitcoin blockchain and mint $zBTC on Solana. Similar to $wBTC and Coinbase’s $cbBTC, this offers DeFi users greater capital efficiency and helps to facilitate smoother $BTC integrations within the Solana network.

All minted $zBTC tokens are backed 1:1 by native Bitcoin, with reserves transparently verifiable on ZeusScan. Beyond established proof-of-reserves, Zeus Network distributes BTC custody across a decentralized network ZeusNodes using MPC (Multi Party Computation) technology to eliminate singular points of failure.

At press time, the Zeus Foundation is the largest minter of $zBTC, locking 31.52 $BTC. This figure represents 58.25% of all $zBTC supply. Other contributors include some of Zeus Network’s investors, namely Animoca Ventures and Mechanism Capital.

Could $zBTC Challenge $wBTC, $cbBTC?

Taking on a well-established Bitcoin-pegged asset market, Zeus Network’s $zBTC has set itself an ambitious challenge. Solana’s existing BTC-based coins, $wBTC and $cbBTC, boast a shared market capitalization of $588.4M, and are widely integrated in Solana DeFi applications like Kamino Finance.

At launch, $zBTC doesn’t share these integrations, somewhat limiting its utility. However, Zeus Network has hinted that holders can expect a diverse range of apps and features to be rolled out in the future, potentially giving $zBTC more versatility than its rivals.

For the time being, $zBTC only represents a small portion of Solana’s Bitcoin-pegged market, constituting 0.77% of market share. 

However, within a unique range of utilities, including cross-chain DEXes and Ordinals/Runes integrations, slated for launch, $zBTC is likely to witness greater adoption over time.

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