• Comparisons
• tBTC & nBTC: Technical

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tBTC Main Components Diagram

To start the tBTC node validator needs:

1. tBTC node
2. Access to the Ethereum API
   • By running their own ETH node
   • OR using 3rd-party RPC provider
3. Access to the Bitcoin API - tBTC requires using Electrum protocol for BTC communication
   • By running their own Electrum Personal Server (includes full BTC node)
   • OR using public Electrum Server

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iBTC Main Components Diagram

To start the iBTC node validator needs:

1. iBTC node
2. Observer node
3. Access to the Int3face API
   • By running their own INT3 node
4. Access to the Bitcoin API
   • By running their own node
   • OR using 3rd-party dedicated node

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tBTC Hardware Recommendations

Recommended hardware to run a singe tBTC v2 node: 2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 1 GiB Persistent Storage

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iBTC Hardware Recommendations

Estimated recommended hardware to run a single iBTC node: 8 vCPU / 64 GB RAM / 1+ TB Persistent Storage

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tBTC signing timeline

1. Signers announce readiness - ~1.2 minutes (6 ETH blocks)
2. Signature production - <= 6 minutes (<= 30 ETH blocks)
3. Cooldown - ~1 minute (5 ETH blocks)

In total - ~8 minutes (41 ETH blocks) In case of signature failure - next attempt will be performed after 41 block window. Maximum is 5 signing attempts. Worst case scenario - signature will take 205 blocks or ~40 minutes on ETH

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iBTC signing timeline

According to the Thorchain’s benchmarks TSS signature production for 10 nodes takes around 10 seconds. In case of signature failure - next attempt will be performed ASAP. We have a total timeout of 5 minutes for signing.

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tBTC complete timeline

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Inbound transfer​

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Outbound transfer​

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iBTC complete timeline

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Inbound transfer​

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Outbound transfer​