#baby $BABY @BabylonLabs_io
I keep seeing "self-custodial" used as a marketing word rather than a technical claim. Plenty of products say your keys, your crypto, then quietly add a recovery service, a guardian wallet, or a support ticket process that makes the custody promise softer than it sounds.
So I actually went looking at how Trustless Bitcoin Vaults (TBV) handles this. TBV lets native Bitcoin be posted as collateral without wrapping or bridging, and the first live use is native Bitcoin-backed borrowing through Aave v4 on public testnet, where you borrow assets like USDC or USDT against BTC you never hand over to anyone.
The detail that matters here is what happens at signing. If self-custody is real, the user's keys should be the only thing that can move the collateral, no multisig committee, no bridge validator set sitting quietly in the middle.
I tested the borrow flow on testnet and did not see a hidden custodian step, which is a better sign than most projects give at this stage.
Still, testnet behavior under calm conditions is not proof the self-custody promise holds during a liquidation cascade.
I keep seeing "self-custodial" used as a marketing word rather than a technical claim. Plenty of products say your keys, your crypto, then quietly add a recovery service, a guardian wallet, or a support ticket process that makes the custody promise softer than it sounds.
So I actually went looking at how Trustless Bitcoin Vaults (TBV) handles this. TBV lets native Bitcoin be posted as collateral without wrapping or bridging, and the first live use is native Bitcoin-backed borrowing through Aave v4 on public testnet, where you borrow assets like USDC or USDT against BTC you never hand over to anyone.
The detail that matters here is what happens at signing. If self-custody is real, the user's keys should be the only thing that can move the collateral, no multisig committee, no bridge validator set sitting quietly in the middle.
I tested the borrow flow on testnet and did not see a hidden custodian step, which is a better sign than most projects give at this stage.
Still, testnet behavior under calm conditions is not proof the self-custody promise holds during a liquidation cascade.