Custody

Atlas operates without relying on custodians or centralized intermediaries. The protocol's architecture eliminates the need for trusted third parties, allowing users to interact directly with the system through smart contracts. Users will always retain access to their staked native BTC and can withdraw at any time.

The custody mechanism in Atlas Protocol differs fundamentally from traditional wrapped Bitcoin solutions. Instead of relying on centralized custodians like those used by wBTC or cbBTC, Atlas leverages NEAR's chain signature technology and MPC nodes to manage Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals. This distributed approach ensures that no single entity has control over users' assets.

When users stake their BTC on Atlas, their assets are directly staked on the Bitcoin network through secure staking protocols such as Babylon. The minting and burning of atBTC is handled through smart contracts, with transaction signatures distributed across multiple independent NEAR MPC nodes. All transactions and custody-related operations are fully transparent and verifiable on-chain, allowing users to monitor their assets in real-time.