Starknet Launches strkBTC, a Privacy-Enabled Bitcoin Wrapper Built on STRK20
Starknet Launches strkBTC, a Privacy-Enabled Bitcoin Wrapper Built on STRK20
Publish Date: 2026-05-13 06:00:00
Source Domain: unchainedcrypto.com
strkBTC lets bitcoin holders toggle between public and shielded states on Starknet, with viewing-key compliance for regulators and a roadmap toward a trustless OP_CAT bridge.
Posted May 13, 2026 at 5:58 am EST.
Starknet launched strkBTC on Tuesday, a bitcoin-backed asset that gives holders optional privacy on the Ethereum Layer 2 network. It is the first asset built on STRK20, the new privacy framework that shipped with Starknet’s Shinobi upgrade on April 21.
The token is backed 1:1 by BTC locked on the Bitcoin base layer and redeemable at any time. STRK20 lets users toggle between a public mode, which behaves like any other ERC20 on Starknet, and a shielded mode, which hides balances and transfer amounts using zero-knowledge proofs. Users can move between the two states from within their wallet, with Xverse and Ready among the first wallets to support the asset.
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When a user shields strkBTC, their viewing key is shared with an independent third-party auditor that can grant scoped access to a single user’s activity in response to a lawful regulatory request, without compromising the broader network’s privacy. StarkWare describes the design as “confidentiality on by default, compliance available when required.”
StarkWare CEO and Zcash co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson called it “private digital cash, the way it should be.” StarkWare has also published a quantum-safe Bitcoin scheme that requires no protocol changes, part of a broader strategy to turn bitcoin into a productive asset on Starknet.
The launch lands against a backdrop of rising privacy demand.
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