Huge TRON whale withdrew 60K BTC from JustLend

A powerful TRON whale withdrew 60K TRON Bitcoin (BTCT) from JustLend, unleashing a potential liquidity of $3.6B. The TRON-based wrapped tokens were burned, supposedly releasing the collateral on the Bitcoin main net. 

A new Bitcoin (BTC) whale has just appeared, after leaving JustLend on TRON. The wrapped BTC on JustLend was burned, redeeming the BTC from the smart contract. Multiple tranches of TRC-20 BTC were sent to a black hole address.

The deposit of 60,000 BTC was made in 2022, with a value of $624M. Upon release, the BTC is now worth $3.77B. The move also sets the question about the potential use of 60K newly unlocked coins. Based on TRON chain data, the equivalent amount was burned – but there are not sufficient data to show the movement of the collateral on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Immediately after the transfers, the most probable suspect for the transactions was Justin Sun, co-founder of TRON. Sun has been an influential whale in multiple protocols and has affected the TRON ecosystem by depositing liquidity. The unlocking and burn arrived with no warning, in a series of 1,000 BTC tranches. Sun has not confirmed his involvement, though he has shown readiness to adopt WBTC as a native TRON asset. 

JustLend has been shedding BTC since the peak in March, and currently holds 78.16K BTC. JustLend claims to carry $3.54B in value locked based on lending. BTC can be used as collateral on the protocol, while earning passive income. 

Despite the significant value locked, JustLend reports very few transactions and a few hundred daily users, based on DappRadar data. 

TRC-20 Bitcoin version raises doubts about reserves

Currently, BTC as a TRC-20 token is mostly used in the DeFi space of the TRON network. The token supply is just 25,000 BTCT, based on self-reported data. TRONScan shows another number, 97,745 BTCT, of which 98% are held in the top 3 addresses. The top address, containing 74% of the supply, is none other than JustLend. Despite the significant supply, BTCT is still only used in SunSwap, with limited representation outside the TRON ecosystem. 

BTCT also lacks clear audits, and despite seeing the burn transactions, there is no additional data on where the actual BTC appeared. BTC data on whale wallets show no single address suddenly receiving the balance. 

BTCT information claims the TRC-20 token also has proof of reserves, but they are not published anywhere. Skepticism about BTCT as a TRC-20 token may also affect the upcoming issues of WBTC on the TRON network. Until the proof of reserves, the recent burns from JustLend may simply be TRC-20 operations, not affecting actual BTC on the main blockchain. The main concern is that WBTC on the TRON network could be created in a similar manner, without sufficient proof of reserves.

TRON prepares to carry WBTC

The timing of the unlocked coins raises the question of whether the new assets would flow into Wrapped BTC. From October 8 onward, Wrapped BTC, or WBTC, was scheduled to appear on the TRON network, in a bid to become a multi-chain asset.

WBTC currently has 152,958.34 actual BTC in custody, wrapped on the Ethereum network. If the 60K BTC unlocked are real, they could jump-start liquidity on the TRON network. 

WBTC, first proposed in 2018, is one of the oldest, most liquid assets, distributed among multiple DeFi protocols, liquidity pools and lending apps. WBTC is seen as reliable and audited, and has not faced exploits or hacks. Currently, WBTC faces competition from cbBTC by Coinbase, a wrapped asset on Ethereum and the Base chain. 

After October 8, BitGo will extend the reach of WBTC, by allowing the creation of a TRON-based version. As with Ethereum-based WBTC, the expectation is that the new tokens will have a transparent proof of reserves.

WBTC is native to Ethereum, as well as Avalanche and BNB Chain. TRON has been a controversial chain due to suspicions of centralized control. However, BitGlobal has announced the underlying BTC collateral will not be controlled by TRON’s founder. It is possible that Sun may have enough BTC for supplying the collateral. TRON users could also start depositing BTC to use the new multi-chain WBTC token. 

Cryptopolitan reporting by Hristina Vasileva