PANews reported on February 26th that Starknet announced the launch of a new encapsulated asset, strkBTC, designed to provide optional privacy protection for Bitcoin, according to its official blog. strkBTC is an asset issued on Starknet that is bidirectionally convertible to native Bitcoin, aiming to address the financial privacy breaches caused by the lack of transparency in the Bitcoin ledger.

strkBTC supports two modes: in "non-shielded mode," it operates as a standard ERC-20 token, with balances and transfers publicly visible; in "shielded mode," asset balances and transaction details are hidden. This privacy mechanism is based on a pragmatic design, remaining confidential to the public by default, but supports compliance audits via the Viewing Key to ensure its operation in a regulated environment. Through strkBTC, users can participate in DeFi staking or settlement without exposing their positions and strategies. Starknet states that strkBTC will officially launch soon and will gradually expand its privacy features in the future.