Threshold

What Is the Threshold Network?

The Threshold network provides and maintains a suite of cryptographic primitives for several dApps. The network is the product of the protocol merger between the Keep Network and NuCypher, which was finalized on January 1, 2022 with the launch of the T token.

What is the T token?

The T token is both a utility token for the Threshold Network and a governance token for the Threshold DAO.

What is the T token used for?

The T token is primarily used to stake a node. Node operators receive fees from various applications that rely on the Threshold network’s cryptographic primitives. The T token is also a governance token and users can lock the token in coverage pools to earn yield in exchange for underwriting collateral risk in the network.

What are Threshold’s primitives and the use-cases?

Threshold provides a suite of cryptographic building blocks for privacy, access controls, and cross-chain bridges, including:

• Proxy re-encryption (PRE) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_re-encryption)
• Threshold signatures (TSS) (https://academy.binance.com/en/articles/threshold-signatures-explained)
• Distributed key generation (DKG) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_key_generation)
• Random beacon (RB) (https://blog.keep.network/whats-in-a-beacon-12c34b0bc078)

What is tBTC?

tBTC is Threshold’s flagship application. tBTC is tokenized Bitcoin that is completely permissionless (i.e. has no custodian), which allows anyone to tokenize their Bitcoin and use it in DeFi applications without sacrificing privacy or risking censorship.

Early History of Threshold

Keep and NuCypher were merged into the Threshold Network in a decentralized on-chain merger. The idea to merge the two networks was first proposed by the community in February of 2021. The first iteration of the proposal to merge was posted to the Keep Network forum in March. The final proposal rc0 defined the terms of the merger and was approved in June of 2021 by both communities, with a snapshot vote for Keep and NuCypher token holders.

T Supply Details

• 10B initial supply
• 4.5B allocated to NU holders
• 4.5B allocated to KEEP holders
• 1B allocated to Threshold DAO

Upgrading to T

The vending machine contracts, with static conversion ratios, will be available to NU and KEEP holders indefinitely. There is no time pressure or disadvantage in waiting to upgrade NU/KEEP into T, so please be safe, take your time, and confirm everything!

As a reminder, existing NU and KEEP stakers will not be able to use the vending machine contracts until their stakes unlock and become liquid. Legacy stakers will be grandfathered into Threshold via special staking adapters.