ConsenSys launches interoperable Bitcoin service BTC Relay

BTC Relay is a decentralised smart contract for the community that does not grant special privileges to any party. Using BTC Relay, Ethereum developers can implement a Pay with Bitcoin button in their Ethereum-based decentralised applications, allowing Bitcoin holders to interact with smart contracts and decentralized applications on the Ethereum platform.

BTC Relay has been added to EtherEx, a decentralised exchange, as a mechanism whereby Bitcoin can be exchanged with Ether, without any counterparty risk. Another potential use case is the issuance of an Ethereum-based BTC token (ETHBTC) based on locking actual BTC tokens in a multisig on the Bitcoin protocol.

With this capability, Ethereum can serve as a substrate for many glue protocols that will join various blockchain networks and other decentralised services together into an Internet of decentralised systems.