Threshold Network said Nov. 6 that tBTC node operators are expected to begin reconnecting at about 7 p.m. ET that evening, a step toward reopening Bitcoin redemptions after a week-long bridge pause.
The target is subject to “final security checks,” Threshold said in its resumption update. Deposits, minting, redemptions and the bridge interface will resume once enough operators are online—not necessarily when reconnections begin. The announced target corresponds to midnight UTC on Nov. 7.
The tBTC bridge lets Bitcoin holders bring BTC into DeFi, with deposited Bitcoin secured by groups of Threshold operators. Threshold paused new deposits, minting and Bitcoin redemption requests on Oct. 30. Holding and transferring tBTC were unaffected, but holders lost the ability to initiate new conversions back to native BTC through the bridge.
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Until operations resume, Threshold warned users not to send BTC to previously generated deposit addresses or resubmit pending transactions. It previously said deposits and redemptions already in progress would complete after operations resume.
In its Nov. 2 security update, Threshold said all tBTC nodes were either patched or offline as operators addressed a Linux kernel vulnerability. It said bridge wallets require a majority of independent operators to sign Bitcoin transactions, so no single operator can move the funds.
Threshold again said tBTC remained fully backed. Its explorer displayed about 4,320.58 BTC in bridge wallets, while Etherscan showed an Ethereum token supply of about 4,185.16 tBTC during reporting.
Aave Freeze Still in Place
Aave’s Ethereum Core tBTC reserve remained frozen, with about $123.2 million supplied, according to its interface. Aave froze the reserve on Oct. 31 following Threshold’s pause.
The freeze blocks new tBTC deposits and additional borrowing against the token, but repayments, withdrawals and liquidations continue, according to Aave risk service provider LlamaRisk. The freeze itself does not change existing positions’ health factors or make them liquidatable, it said.
Restoring the bridge is distinct from lifting those lending restrictions. LlamaRisk said it would propose restorative measures once it has assurance that tBTC operations have returned to normal.
The pause also prompted Gauntlet to exclude a tBTC-backed market from the optimizer used by its Ethereum Morpho USDC Core vault. In its Oct. 31 announcement, the vault manager said it withdrew about 65,000 USDC of available liquidity, leaving roughly 640,000 USDC supplied. It warned that the redemption pause could affect tBTC liquidity and liquidation exits.
Threshold said it would issue its next update once normal bridge operations are restored, and within 48 hours in any case.