Provable Things Launch pTokens, Bringing Cross-chain Interoperability to DeFi

pTokens, an industry-first solution enabling decentralized finance interoperability between any blockchain, cryptocurrency or token.

London, March 5th, 2020: The team behind Provable Things (previously Oraclize), who created the world’s first and most widely adopted multi-blockchain oracle for modern decentralized applications (DApps), has today launched pTokens on Ethereum mainnet.

pTokens are an industry-first solution that will unlock cross-chain liquidity for the entire $250+ billion cryptocurrency market by making Decentralized Finance (DeFi) universally compatible with every cryptocurrency or blockchain platform, including leading networks Ethereum, Bitcoin, Litecoin and EOS.

pBTC, the first of the pTokens series to be launched, is now available on the Ethereum blockchain. Bancor Network and Kyber Network, two industry-leading on-chain liquidity protocols, are the first platforms to integrate with the solution and bring liquidity to the pBTC pair. 

pTokens enable the use of a cryptocurrency across multiple blockchain networks for all DApps and the high growth DeFi industry, which recently surpassed $1 billion in total locked value. pTokens now make these new, powerful applications accessible to anyone using cryptocurrencies, without having to sell their Bitcoin, Litecoin, EOS or any other cryptocurrency they hold.

pTokens

DeFi is the concept of recreating traditional financial instruments such as loans and interest-accounts in a decentralized architecture, outside of centralized control. DeFi is a rapidly growing industry, yet its liquidity cannot accommodate the constant flow of new tools and platforms when development is spread thinly across multiple blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies.

DApps – applications that run on distributed computing networks  – have been popularized by distributed ledger technologies, such as the Ethereum Blockchain. The majority of this nascent industry is built upon – and thus limited to – the Ethereum network, however, which makes hundreds of DeFi DApps inaccessible to non-Ethereum crypto holders. This is what pTokens will solve.

pTokens are minted at a one-to-one ratio so that one pToken will always be worth one of the underlying crypto, also known as being ‘pegged’ to it. Ownership of an existing cryptocurrency token such as BTC is held by its pToken equivalent, pBTC. That pBTC token can then be converted back to BTC, 1:1 at its current value and at any time. This eliminates the need to sell currencies, a taxable event, in order to engage with Ethereum based applications.

pBTC

Following its mainnet launch, Bitcoin holders will now have instant and frictionless access to the world of Ethereum DeFi. The conversion from BTC to pBTC takes place within a cryptographically secure, fully auditable and transparent environment.

For now, the pBTC is the bridge between the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks, but pTokens can support any blockchain asset. New pTokens such as pEOS and pLTC have already been deployed in a test environment and will also soon be available on Ethereum mainnet. The system will soon apply to other assets, bringing pETH and pDAI to other blockchains. 

Thomas Bertani, founder of Provable Things, “For Decentralized Finance to be successful, liquidity is key. Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market cap and the majority of industry applications and finance products are based on the Ethereum network. But with over 2000 currencies, this limits what consumers can do and the liquidity of platforms using individual cryptocurrency networks.”

“The missing link for DeFi is cross-chain interoperability – the ability of cryptocurrency to move between blockchains seamlessly. pTokens will unlock the value of the entire $250+ billion cryptocurrency market, letting liquidity flow instantly and fluidly between different blockchains, expanding the world of DeFi and its adoption.”

Nate Hindman, Head of Growth at Bancor, “We’re thrilled to see pBTC give Bitcoin users access to DeFi protocols like Bancor. With the newly launched pBTC liquidity pool on Bancor, any user can now stake their pBTC, generate fees from trades on Bancor, and ultimately collect their earnings in BTC.”

“The process for setting up a new liquidity pool on Bancor, or staking in an existing pool, is self-service, permissionless and requires no minimum, so we look forward to numerous pTokens liquidity pools launching in the near future, opening up Bancor staking to many more chains.”

Shane Hong, Marketing Manager at Kyber Network, “Bitcoin is among the most widely held and used cryptocurrencies. We are glad to support the pBTC initiative to bring Bitcoin liquidity to Ethereum DApps, enabling a whole new world of exciting decentralized finance (DeFi) use cases for both the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystem.”

Provable Things 

A London-based business operating within the blockchain industry, Provable Things, née Oraclize was founded in 2015. Provable uses cutting-edge decentralized and Trusted Computing technologies to provide services for modern DApps, enabling the shift of traditional services into the decentralized economy. The first Provable product to launch has become the longest-running blockchain oracle service industry-wide, granting a reliable connection between smart contracts and Web APIs.

Media contact

Savannah Lee

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