Bitcoin-Collateralized Trading is Coming to gTrade
A new vault is launching on gTrade this week — and it’s powered by Bitcoin.
This Friday, June 13th, the gBTCUSD Vault will go live on the Base. Created through a strategic partnership between gTrade and Bifrost, this new vault introduces BtcUSD, a decentralized, Bitcoin-backed stablecoin, as a collateral type on the gTrade platform.
With over 260+ markets tradable — including crypto, forex, commodities, and now 12+ stocks — traders will be able to use their Bitcoin-backed dollars to gain leveraged exposure across global markets — fully onchain, powered by Base.
Bitcoin Meets DeFi on Base
Bitcoin accounts for over half of crypto’s market cap, yet continues to lag in DeFi participation. The launch of BtcUSD and its integration into gTrade’s infrastructure changes that dynamic.
gBTCUSD is the first Bitcoin-collateralized stablecoin vault on gTrade, unlocking new opportunities for BTC holders to put their capital to work — without having to sell or bridge assets manually.
For Base, this marks a new chapter as well. As one of the fastest-growing L2 ecosystems, Base is now home to a fully onchain trading venue where Bitcoin-backed capital can power leveraged trading at scale.
Seeding Liquidity: Built for Liquid Markets from Day One
To ensure deep liquidity and optimal trading conditions from the moment the vault launches, Bifrost is seeding:
- $2 million in $BtcUSD into the gBTCUSD vault
- $1 million into the overcollateralization layer that buffers the protocol and absorbs trader wins/losses
This setup allows gTrade to offer instant access to liquid markets across all tradable pairs — including cryptos, forex, commodities, and equities — with no slippage on major pairs and up to 1000x leverage on selected pairs.
What is BtcUSD?
BtcUSD is a decentralized stablecoin backed by Bitcoin, minted via Bifrost’s BTCFi protocol. Drawing comparisons to MakerDAO, BtcUSD allows users to stake Bitcoin and mint up to 50% of its value in stablecoin form.
Unlike earlier BTC-backed products, BtcUSD is built for robustness and utility:
- Only high-quality Bitcoin collateral is accepted — native BTC, cbBTC, and BTCB. No LST-based or wrapped Bitcoin assets are allowed, preserving the integrity of the collateral base.
- Institutional trust and validation: BTCFi is backed by major Web2 and crypto-native validators, including KDDI, BitTrade, Nansen, and OKJ (OKX Japan).
- Natively interoperable across EVM and non-EVM chains
- Backed by automated liquidations and overcollateralization mechanisms
- Usable in payment systems and DeFi protocols alike
This isn’t just another wrapped token — BtcUSD is a cross-chain, yield-generating Bitcoin primitive with real-world use cases and institutional alignment, bringing the power of Bitcoin into modern DeFi ecosystems like Base.
How gBTCUSD Works
gTrade vaults act as the counterparty to every trade on the platform using an automated market maker (AMM) model. When traders win, their profits are paid from the vault. When they lose, their losses are returned to the vault. This design enables fully decentralized, permissionless trading.
The gBTCUSD vault follows the same architecture as gTrade’s other gToken vaults (like gUSDC, gETH, gDAI, and gGNS). It consists of two layers:
- Base liquidity layer (100%)
This is the capital provided by depositors in the form of BtcUSD. Depositors receive gBTCUSD — a yield-bearing ERC-20 token that accrues value over time based from trading fees.
Depositors earn 15% of all fees paid on trades using BtcUSD as collateral.
2. Overcollateralization (OC) layer (above 100%)
Any funds beyond the base vault make up for the OC layer — a protective buffer that absorbs risk. This layer smooths out volatility in trader profits/losses and helps protect liquidity providers’ capital.
The vault can exist in two states — Overcollateralized or Undercollateralized — each with its own mechanics:
Overcollateralized Vault
- The vault has a liquidity buffer to cover active trader positions.
- Profits and losses are settled through the OC layer.
- Depending on the OC-ratio, a portion of trader losses may be used to buy $GNS OTC using the vault asset (BtcUSD).
- The acquired $GNS is then burned, reducing total supply.
Undercollateralized Vault (gBTCUSD-specific)
- The OC buffer has been depleted due to high trader PnL.
- Unlike other vaults, $GNS will not be minted to replenish this gBTCUSD vault.
- Instead, the vault relies on its partner — Bifrost — to restore the overcollateralization buffer.
- As part of this partnership design, this ensures that the vault returns to a healthy state and trading conditions remain uninterrupted.
This structure reinforces confidence for both traders and LPs, where even in rare edge cases, vault integrity is preserved through mutual confidence in gTrade’s model — without introducing new $GNS mints.
For more details on how gToken vaults work and how traders and depositors interact with them, refer to the gTrade docs.
Coming Soon: Dedicated Trading Rewards
As part of the rollout of gBTCUSD, a dedicated trading rewards program is on the way — designed to encourage usage and reward early adopters of BtcUSD as a collateral type.
While full details will be shared at launch, traders can expect a range of engaging reward formats, including raffles, PnL-based incentives, and other bonuses.
If you’re looking for a reason to try something new — stay tuned 👀
How to Get BtcUSD
BtcUSD is already live and accessible on Base through two primary channels:
- Swap on Aerodrome
Users can instantly acquire BtcUSD via the official Aerodrome liquidity pool:
➡️ https://aerodrome.finance/swap?from=eth&to=0xe4b20925d9e9a62f1e492e15a81dc0de62804dd4&chain0=8453&chain1=8453 - Mint via BTCFi
Users can also mint BtcUSD directly using native BTC or cbBTC through the BTCFi platform:
➡️ https://www.btcfi.one
This gives users maximum flexibility to get started with BtcUSD ahead of the gBTCUSD vault launch on gTrade.
Bitcoin Liquidity, Reimagined
This launch is more than just another collateral type — it’s the start of a broader movement to bring Bitcoin liquidity into active DeFi use on Base and gTrade. Through the gBTCUSD Vault, BtcUSD holders can finally trade permissionlessly with Bitcoin-backed dollars across crypto, forex, commodities, stocks.
gTrade and Bifrost are proud to make this future a reality. See you on Friday.
Questions? Join the gTrade community:
Telegram — https://t.me/GainsNetwork
Discord — https://twitter.com/GainsNetwork_io
