Starknet's strkBTC Goes Live: Bitcoin Privacy Arrives — But at the Cost of New Trust Layers

Starknet launched strkBTC on May 12, locking BTC on Bitcoin's base layer to back an ERC-20 token with both public and shielded modes. In shielded mode, users can hide selected balances and transfers from outside observers, with viewing keys routed to an independent third-party auditor for selective…