Introducing the PolyBeam Federation: Secure Bridges for Bitcoin Assets
Bitcoin is powerful — immutable, scarce, and now programmable through metaprotocols like Runes. As adoption grows and the limits of Bitcoin’s base layer come into focus, a question emerges:How do we safely bring Bitcoin-native assets to scalable execution environments?
Enter PolyBeam: the Bitcoin Runes <> Starknet bridge built for real-world usability, programmable assets, and institutional-grade security. At the heart of PolyBeam is a carefully selected and battle-tested group of validators: The PolyBeam Federation.
Why a Federation?
Cross-chain bridges have a history - and not always a positive one. From smart contract exploits to compromised multisigs, the lesson is clear: bridges must be designed with security, transparency, and redundancy at their core.
PolyBeam uses a federated model for transaction validation that balances decentralization with operational robustness:
Federation Members: A diverse group of ecosystem partners, node operators, and security-focused institutions are responsible for validating transactions.
Threshold Signatures: A minimum quorum must sign off on Runes bridging transactions, making unilateral compromise impossible.
Audited Infrastructure: Every component of the bridge stack — from Bitcoin locking contracts to Starknet minting mechanisms — has been independently audited and undergone a rigorous security review.
We aren’t just building another bridge. We’re building a credible settlement layer between Bitcoin and Starknet.
Who’s in the Federation?
PolyBeam's validator federation is built for both resilience and specialization. We've brought together a carefully selected group of teams across the Bitcoin and Starknet ecosystems, each contributing unique expertise in infrastructure, security, and execution.
Deposit ValidatorsThese members are responsible for monitoring Bitcoin Runes transactions, validating inscription integrity, and coordinating the minting of bridged assets on Starknet. Their collective capabilities include:
Bitcoin Infrastructure & Protocol Development: Teams with deep experience in building and scaling Bitcoin-native tools and protocols, contributing to the robustness of the bridge's foundational layers.
Starknet Development & Rollup Engineering: Experts in Starknet's architecture and zero-knowledge rollup technology, ensuring seamless integration and scalability for bridged assets.
Ecosystem Stewardship & Transparency: Organizations committed to fostering open communication and transparency within the blockchain ecosystem, aiding in community engagement and trust-building.
Withdrawal ValidatorsThese members oversee the redemption process from Starknet back to Bitcoin, ensuring the secure release of Runes from lock contracts. Their combined expertise encompasses:
Bitcoin Custody & Transaction Security: Specialists in managing Bitcoin assets with a focus on secure key management and transaction validation.
Validator Coordination & Monitoring: Teams dedicated to maintaining high uptime, observability, and health of validator nodes, ensuring the reliability of the bridge operations.
User Experience & Wallet Integration: Developers focused on enhancing user interfaces and wallet functionalities, facilitating accessible and secure interactions with the bridge.
All federation members operate under a threshold signature scheme, requiring a minimum quorum to approve transactions. This design ensures decentralization and mitigates the risk of unilateral actions, reinforcing the bridge's security and trustworthiness.
This isn't just a bridge — it's a secure, purpose-built coordination layer for Bitcoin asset interoperability.
Why It Matters for Runes
The Runes protocol unlocks native asset issuance on Bitcoin — but like any base-layer primitive, it needs scale and programmability to reach its full potential.
PolyBeam + the Federation means:
You can mint a Rune on Bitcoin and use it in Starknet DeFi minutes later.
You can launch dApps that use Bitcoin-native collateral with Starknet logic.
You can issue stable, yield-bearing, or composable assets backed by the Bitcoin you already trust.
It’s a new chapter for Bitcoin — not a replacement, but a powerful extension.