Nomic upgrade to unlock new DeFi possibilities on Cosmos

Turbofish, a key contributor to Nomic, has revealed an impending interchain upgrade to Nomic. This non-custodial Bitcoin (BTC) bridge’s upgrade promises to drastically enhance interoperability, facilitating Cosmos’ decentralized finance (DeFi) users to access vital digital asset DeFi protocols like Osmosis seamlessly.

In a recent interview with Crypto, Turbofish CEO Matt Bell explained that the nBTC upgrade is designed to strengthen BTC’s integration into Cosmos (ATOM) without transforming it into Wrapped BTC (WBTC).

According to Bell, Bitcoin’s $500 billion liquidity remains untapped mainly because of the challenges associated with interfacing with it. However, Nomic solves this problem for Cosmos through the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol. He said:

“The nBTC Interchain Upgrade significantly amplifies this capability, allowing users to effortlessly transfer their Bitcoin into any zone within the Cosmos network, bypassing the need to exchange their Bitcoin for custodial variants of cryptocurrency like WBTC.”

Nomic’s security

Bell touts Nomic’s enhanced security measures, saying it is “significantly more secure” than any bridge before.

Over the past years, several DeFi bridges have lost millions of their users’ funds after malicious players, including North Korea-backed hacker groups like Lazarus, exploited various vulnerabilities on these platforms.

However, Bell argued that Nomic, being a non-custodial platform, allows its user’s BTC to remain decentralized and on the secure Bitcoin blockchain while utilizing Taproot and MuSig Schnorr signatures to secure its reserves.

He furthered that the bridge can efficiently enable up to 1,000 signers, a notable leap compared to bridges limited to 15 to 40 signatories.

Additionally, Bell pointed out that the nBTC bridge has an “Emergency Disbursals feature,” which requires just 10% of validators to maintain honesty and incorporates a circuit breaker system that prevents sudden large BTC withdrawals when technical issues arise.

Also, Nomic’s NOM token plays an integral role in the security architecture of the bridge, as users can stake their tokens to bolster the network security and, in turn, earn BTC rewards.

“In addition to being utilized for fee payments, NOM serves as a staking token meant to ensure the security and governance of the Nomic bridge. NOM stakers also earn BTC rewards, which come from the protocol fees paid on Bitcoin deposits into the bridge,” Bell said.

nBTC use-cases

The improved interoperability experience extends across various Cosmos-integrated applications, including Osmosis, Kujira, and Levana.

Users can employ nBTC to facilitate liquidity provision on Osmosis, mint the USK stablecoin using nBTC as collateral on Kujira, and utilize nBTC as collateral for accessing leveraged trading positions on Levana.

Nomic’s future

Bell indicated that Nomic’s future roadmap is geared towards enhancing decentralization, intending to welcome new users and nodes to the network.

He added that the project developers plan to transition the project’s governance to the Nomic DAO, which would be tasked with making crucial decisions like determining the BTC limits and fees.

Additionally, Bell highlighted Turbofish’s ambitions for the Cosmos ecosystem and envisioned the streamlined infusion of nBTC liquidity into DeFi projects as a catalyst for substantial growth within the Cosmos network and the broader cryptocurrency industry.