Threshold's tBTC bridge is back onchain, but the app stays shut

Threshold Network flipped its tBTC bridge back onchain on Nov. 8, ending a nine-day freeze on the Bitcoin-to-Ethereum rails. The catch: the front-end is still dark. New BTC deposits, tBTC minting and Bitcoin redemptions remain switched off while operators trickle back to their posts.

Operators are reconnecting on patched machines, and Threshold says the bridge will return to full service as more of them log back in. The app still carries a notice that BTC deposits and redemptions are temporarily halted. The interface reopens only once enough operators are live to push deposits, mints and redemptions through without grinding to a crawl.

The mess started Oct. 30, when Threshold hit pause on deposits, minting and redemption requests. In a Nov. 2 security update, the network said operators were patching a Linux kernel vulnerability, with every tBTC node either patched or offline. Bridge wallets need a majority of independent operators to sign off on Bitcoin transactions, which is why a scattered crew means a stalled bridge. Holding and transferring tBTC never stopped.

Nothing already in the pipe is lost, according to Threshold. Deposits and redemption requests submitted before the pause are safe and get processed as operators come back. Users are warned not to fire BTC at old deposit addresses or resubmit pending transactions — once the interface reopens, start a fresh deposit instead of recycling an old address.

Threshold insists tBTC stays fully backed. Its explorer showed 4,320.46 BTC sitting in bridge wallets, while Etherscan listed an Ethereum-side supply of roughly 4,185.17 tBTC at the time of reporting.

Over on Aave, the Ethereum Core tBTC reserve is still frozen with about $119.9 million supplied, a lockup that began Oct. 31 on the heels of the bridge pause. LlamaRisk, Aave's risk service provider, says the freeze blocks new tBTC deposits and extra borrowing against the token, while repayments, withdrawals and liquidations roll on. Existing positions' health factors don't budge, and nothing becomes liquidatable just from the freeze. Restoring the reserve will take a proposal from LlamaRisk, and it wants proof that tBTC is running normally first.