A Beginners Guide to xBTC

What is xBTC?

xBTC is the world’s first and only synthetic Bitcoin with full user privacy. It offers exposure to the price movement of Bitcoin, the number one global cryptocurrency by means of an independent price oracle. xBTC is live on Haven’s mainnet and is available to everyone regardless of location or status.

The are several key advantages to holding and using xBTC:

– Monero grade privacy gives you.

• Accounts only you can access
• Transactions only you control
• Balances only you can view

– Unlimited liquidity for converting between xBTC and xUSD in the Haven vault giving users a highly flexible and secure means to transact and store their wealth without the need for 3rd party exchanges or trusted custodians. Any amount can always be converted due to the maths backing the protocol: $1 worth of xBTC will always be convertible back to 1 xUSD (less fees).

– Fast transfers give users greater flexibility when using xBTC. Transactions are confirmed within a few seconds and complete in around 20 mins as opposed to sometimes several hours for Bitcoin itself.

– 100% control over your money at all times you have sole control over the money stored in your Haven vault. The vault keys remain with you at all times allowing exposure to BTC and USD wherever and whenever you choose. You no longer have to leave your money at risk on an exchange where they can be hacked or have accounts frozen.

——————————————————————————————————————————

How can I get xBTC?

You will first need some XHV, there are primarily two ways to get XHV, it can be purchased on exchanges or mined. Once you have XHV in the Haven vault it can be converted into xUSD and then xUSD can be converted into other xAssets such as xBTC. This can be illustrated as the three-step process below:

XHV >> xUSD >> xBTC

Step 1: GET XHV

XHV is the gateway into Haven’s Vault. To get XHV you can trade on exchanges or mine it. You then set up a Haven vault and send the XHV to it. Vaults for all platforms can be found here

Step2: CONVERT XHV TO xUSD

xUSD is the gateway to the xAssets. You can convert XHV into xUSD or buy it on supported exchanges. Once you have xUSD in your Haven Vault it can be converted to xAssets such as xBTC.

Step3: CONVERT xUSD to xBTC

All xAssets including xBTC can be created by converting xUSD in your Haven vault.

——————————————————————————————————————————

– Exchanges

As the network grows there are an increasing number of exchanges supporting Haven’s assets. Currently XHV and xUSD are available to buy on a range of exchanges with more pairs being added. It is also likely that xBTC will be directly supported on upcoming decentralised swap services such as ThorChain.

The current list of supported exchanges can be found here

Once you have XHV in your vault in a few clicks you can convert any amount directly to xUSD. Choose your unlock time and fee, confirm the rate and you’re done. Once the xUSD unlocks you can then just swap to xBTC, xAU (Gold) or any other supported xAsset all within your own Haven vault in less than 30 mins.

– Mining

Haven is a PoW (Proof of Work) cryptocurrency and so can be mined for Haven’s base currency XHV. Once you have XHV in your Haven vault you can convert it to xUSD (the network gateway currency) and once unlocked then to xBTC. This can be particularly useful for miners who do not need to sell their profits immediately as they can simply lock up the value into USD, BTC or any other supported asset.

xBTC can then be just held in your vault, transferred to another Haven vault or converted back to xUSD at any time 24/7

For a deeper dive into why xBTC is such a big step forward in cryptocurrency check out our blog post here