This article will serve as documentation, and recordation, of the recent events regarding Strudel’s advancements as a DeFi solution.

# March 2021

## The Bridge
Strudel’s Bridge stands as the first Trustless solution that addresses the decentralization issues actively clouding current BTC Bridges in the DeFi space; e.g. REN, wBTC, etc.
The supply of tokenized Bitcoins transferred through trusted bridges now tops a market cap of over $1 billion.
Trusted bridge solutions like $REN and $wBTC lock BTC in insecure multisig setups (<8 signers).
This raises concerns of total value collapse; regarding multisig-control over the Bitcoin stored within the protocol.

Our trustless bridge offers a decentralized, incentivized solution. When BTC is requested to be transferred using the Strudel Dapp, a transaction output with the transfer amount and the receiving Ethereum wallet address is created. This output is handed to the user’s Bitcoin wallet through a QR code.
Next, the header of the Bitcoin block containing the transaction needs to be registered in the relayer contract on Ethereum, where its proof-of-work is verified and the chain is extended.
Once the transaction containing the burn has reached 6 blocks, an inclusion proof is relayed onto Ethereum. The proof is then verified by the Strudel contract which mints 1:1 vBTC and $TRDL tokens as reward. This is sent to the designated Ethereum address and the original BTC is sent to a no-return address within the protocol.
The bridge mints 1 vBTC for 1 burned BTC, with $TRDL rewards.

## ICHI Partnership (oneVBTC)

Strudel has partnered with ICHI, issuing a oneVBTC stablecoin and creating more demand for vBTC. oneVBTC creates arbitrage and farming incentives, to help secure $vBTC’s peg.
Investors can now buy vBTC to mint oneVBTC, and use these tokens to enter the oneVBTC-vBTC Pool. This incentivizes more buying pressure and brings the price of $vBTC closer to peg.
Existing arbitrage opportunities:

vBTC ≥ BTC: use the Bridge to mint vBTC & TRDL.
oneVBTC < $1, buy oneVBTC and redeem for $1 USDC.
oneVBTC > $1, mint oneVBTC (with USDC + vBTC) and sell it.

oneVBTC, like other ichi.org stablecoins, can always be minted and redeemed for exactly $1 of value using the ICHI minter. (2) When you mint oneVBTC, you pay $1 value (USDC + vBTC) and receive oneVBTC. (3) When you redeem oneVBTC you receive 1:1, $1 of USDC (less a 0.45% redemption fee).
Arbitrage profit can now be made any time a trader finds they can swap enough at a price that is far enough from $1, while also paying their minting/redeeming expenses.

## Sushi Partnership (Onsen Pool)

Onsen aims at bringing new liquidity to SushiSwap, decreasing slippage, expanding pool offerings, and fostering exciting synergistic partnerships with other DeFi projects.
OxMaki and a group of vetted community members decide which pools are selected for the Onsen program.


$TRDL-ETH SLP and oneVBTC-ETH SLP are now available for staking at: https://app.sushi.com/onsen

$TRDL and oneVBTC being featured in Sushi’s Onsen Pool creates a unique opportunity to increase Strudel exposure and volume.
Strudel’s team/community is very excited about this partnership, and we are greatly appreciative to have Keno (Strudel’s Founding-Dev & Active Sushi Dev) apart of our team.

## V2 & Marketing

Strudel Finance also saw a complete re-branding of its website. This has developed to increase user experience, and web effectiveness/efficiency.
New Site Links:
https://strudel.finance/
https://app.strudel.finance/farms

Strudel Finance’s re-branding has also allowed for the beginning of the Strudel Marketing Campaign.
Strudel’s Team is actively pursuing Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube. Through quality partnerships and marketing we plan to increase Strudel’s exposure. Bringing more awareness to Strudel’s use-case and community.

## Recap

We are very excited about our recent developments; Partnering with Sushi Swap/Migrating to SLP, working with ICHI to create oneVBTC, and launching our marketing campaign.
Strudel’s Team expresses much gratitude for the community’s patience and support during these developing times.
Moving forward, we are focused on creating an effective vBTC peg and increasing project exposure.
We believe $vBTC has the potential to be a great DeFi solution, and we are very excited for Strudel’s future.