DUBAI, AE / ACCESS Newswire / June 19, 2025 / As reported first by Coindesk, The Bitcoin Dollar (BTCD), the first fully Bitcoin-backed stablecoin, launches today on Elastos-a decentralized platform merge-mined with Bitcoin since 2018.
As stablecoins grow but trust in traditional finance erodes, BTCD is the world's first Bitcoin-native stablecoin, fully collateralized with Bitcoin and governed by the Elastos' merge mined SmartWeb. BTCD delivers on-chain transparency, real-time proof-of-reserves, and a way for Bitcoin holders to unlock liquidity without selling their BTC. The Bitcoin Dollar project, led by a team of Harvard alumni and incubated at the Harvard Innovation Labs, puts Bitcoin's trillion-dollar balance sheet to work-creating a programmable, trust-minimized currency backed by digital gold.
Bitcoin holders lock BTC into a P2WSH address, maintaining non-custodial control of their funds without wrapping assets. BTCD Miners compute and deliver zero-knowledge proofs-advanced cryptography that verifies collateral without revealing private details-to Ethereum-compatible smart contracts to trigger BTCD issuance and monitor operations in return for small BTC fees. This process unlocks programmable Bitcoin finance and enables stablecoin liquidity without the risks of wrapped BTC, derivative tokens, or custodial intermediaries.
BTCD uses the Elastos SmartWeb (ELA), founded by ex-Microsoft senior engineer Rong Chen in 2018, for its unique merge-mining infrastructure, where over 50% of Bitcoin's hash power-more than 366 EH/s, representing ~$7.74 billion annually-secures its toolsets in return for ELA rewards. Major pools like Antpool, F2Pool, ViaBTC, and Binance Pool contribute to this system. The Bitcoin Dollar provides miners the ability to further secure operations by staking ELA as collateral to support arbitration, liquidation, yield-sharing, and cross-chain communication in return for additional BTC revenue fees and new economic opportunities-all while being anchored to Bitcoin's security.
Key BTCD Facts
· Collateral Ratio: 40%-65% BTC plus ELA over-collateralization buffer
· Proof-of-Reserves: Real-time on the Bitcoin chain with zero-knowledge attestation
· P2WSH Address: Funds locked natively on Bitcoin, non-custodially controlled by an on-chain script
· Native BTC DeFi: Elastos enables smart contracts on Bitcoin's L1-no wrapped BTC, no derivative tokens, no custodial risk
· Liquidation Mechanism(There is no random passive liquidation): If the collateral ratio of Bitcoin Dollar drops below the threshold and the borrower fails to repay the BTCD and corresponding interest in full upon the expiration of the 90-day BTCD lending contract, the BTC in the P2WSH address can be liquidated through decentralized exchanges, co-signed by user-authorized miners who hold equivalent-value ELA collateral in smart contracts. The project team will use the unlocked BTC and other auxiliary assets within the system to repurchase the corresponding BTCD and return it to the system for destruction, ensuring system integrity and preventing collusion.
· Security Audits: Certik, SlowMist, Trail of Bits (June 2025)
· Launch Date: August 2025 on Elastos ECO mainnet (EVM-compatible) and PG Protocol Chain, with broader expansion planned
· Tickers: BTCD (stablecoin) and ELA /PGA(governance/staking)
"Satoshi advocated merge-mining with Bitcoin in 2010 to give miners extra revenue streams while supporting new solutions at no extra cost," said Sunny, co-founder of Elastos. "Elastos leverages its ELA merge-mining security to deliver ecosystem solutions like BTCD through staking opportunities-providing a new stablecoin which rewards miners and empowers Bitcoin to back the future of money."
Real-time dashboards display collateral ratios, liquidations, and protocol fees for BTCD miners. This design echoes how the Bretton Woods system once anchored the dollar to gold-now reimagined with Bitcoin at its core. If miners fail to perform, they are penalized with staked ELA collateral equal to the BTC transactions they support. ELA's design ensures that as BTCD adoption grows, demand for ELA grows too-aligning incentives across the entire ecosystem.
"BTCD lets me put my Bitcoin to work without trusting a central bank," said Jacob Li, Head of Operations at NBW. "I unlock its value for consumer markets and can exit anytime at fair value."
BTCD unites Bitcoin's trillion-dollar balance sheet with Elastos' decentralized infrastructure. It taps into Bitcoin Finance, transparency-first regulation, and sustainable hash-power reuse-aligning with the trend toward tokenizing all value and restoring trust in global finance. Since 2018, Elastos has committed to making Bitcoin the backbone of its SmartWeb ecosystem-and now, with BTCD, Bitcoin's value can finally flow freely into the programmable economy.
Get Started Today:
· Journalists, influencers, and developers: Visit Elastos.net for the full press kit, live dashboard, and interviews.
· Exchanges and wallets: Contact Info@elastos.org.
· Bitcoiners: Put your BTC to work at Elastos.net today.
About BTCD
BTCD is the world's first Bitcoin-native stablecoin, fully collateralized with Bitcoin and governed by ELA on the Elastos SmartWeb. The project is led by a team of Harvard students and alumni incubated at the Harvard Innovation Labs.
Media Contact Information
Elastos
Info@elastos.org
http://Elastos.net
SOURCE: Elastos
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/blockchain-and-cryptocurrency/the-bitcoin-dollar-debuts-btcd-the-first-fully-bitcoin-backed-stablec-1041097
