Elastos Launches Bitcoin-Backed Stablecoin

BTCFi project Elastos has introduced BTCD, a stablecoin backed by the leading cryptocurrency.

The wait is over. Introducing the first fully Bitcoin-backed stablecoin, The Bitcoin Dollar — $BTCD⚡️

BTCD is the world’s first Bitcoin-native stablecoin, fully collateralized with BTC and governed by Elastos. It’s time to put Bitcoin’s trillion-dollar balance sheet to work! pic.twitter.com/DDbzRUsVQS

— Elastos (@ElastosInfo) June 18, 2025

The team aims to create a “digital version of the Bretton Woods system“—the post-war agreement that pegged the US dollar to gold and established it as the world’s reserve currency to enhance financial stability.

“[We] are reimagining Bretton Woods with Bitcoin at its core,” stated Elastos.

Dollar-pegged stablecoins are typically backed by fiat currencies and highly liquid short-term US government bonds. 

Unlike traditional stablecoins, BTCD is backed by a volatile asset—Bitcoin. 

In a conversation with CoinDesk, Elastos representatives explained that they address price fluctuations through over-collateralization—at a level of 160-200% of BTCD’s value.

“Oracles update the exchange rate of the leading cryptocurrency to the dollar in each block. If coverage drops to 110%, arbitrageurs can repay the debt, buy digital gold at a slight discount, and eliminate the risk,” the developers noted. 

Thus, the rate is algorithmically regulated by issuing and burning BTCD depending on the supply and demand ratio.

The total market capitalization of the stablecoin segment has exceeded $260 billion.

The total TVL of Bitcoin-based decentralized applications amounts to $6.41 billion. The segment ranks third on DeFi Llama, trailing only Ethereum and Solana ecosystems.

The largest BTCFi platform is Babylon Protocol. The TVL of the restaking service is $4.9 billion. 

Back in April, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson proposed allocating $100 million in ADA tokens from the project’s reserves to purchase Bitcoin and stablecoins.