Mike Belshe

Led operational design and oversight for a major custodial participant that underpinned WBTC's 1:1 backing model. Under executive oversight, BitGo implemented multi-signature custody, hot/cold key management and institutional-grade KYC/AML workflows that were used in WBTC minting and redemption processes. BitGo produced and maintained periodic on-chain and off-chain attestations documenting BTC reserves backing WBTC issuance. Played a central role in defining the custodian responsibilities within the initial WBTC consortium, negotiating technical signer integrations and API flows used by merchant nodes to request mint and burn operations. Decisions made about key custody, signing thresholds and attestation cadence directly affected market confidence and the legal/compliance posture of the wrapped token. Operational choices led by the custody team shaped how custodial risk was transferred to merchants and DeFi counterparties, determining counterparty concentration and remediation steps in case of key compromise. Those implemented safeguards and public attestations materially influenced institutional willingness to interact with WBTC across exchanges and lending platforms.