tBTC Bridge Restarts After Nine-Day Pause, Aave Reserve Still Frozen

Threshold Network's tBTC bridge resumed on-chain operations on Sunday after a nine-day security halt, but an Aave reserve holding roughly $120 million in tBTC remains frozen to new deposits and borrowing against the token.

The restart is partial. Threshold said in a statement that the bridge's underlying network is coming back online as security-patched node operators reconnect. These independent operators collectively authorize Bitcoin movements and process deposits and redemptions. Until enough of them are online, the app will not accept new deposits, minting or redemptions.

The pause began on Oct. 30. Threshold halted the bridge while operators patched a critical Linux kernel vulnerability that could have allowed remote attackers to execute code on unpatched servers. The project said it found no evidence the flaw was exploited against tBTC nodes.

What does the freeze mean for Aave users?

Aave froze its tBTC reserve on Ethereum Core on Oct. 31, one day after the halt. The move was defensive. With redemptions unavailable, the lending protocol moved to prevent additional exposure to the token.

The restriction has two effects:

• New tBTC deposits into the reserve are blocked.
• The token no longer adds borrowing power for users who hold it as collateral.

Existing users keep their exit doors open. They can still withdraw funds and repay outstanding loans against tBTC positions.

The numbers behind the bridge look intact. Threshold reported roughly 4,320 BTC sitting in bridge wallets against about 4,185 tBTC in circulation. The project detected no unauthorized Bitcoin transfers and no unauthorized token minting during the incident window.

How did the shutdown play out?

The timeline was tight and deliberate. On Oct. 30, Threshold pulled the plug on the bridge itself, stopping the flow of Bitcoin into Ethereum-based DeFi. On Oct. 31, Aave followed with its reserve freeze on Ethereum Core. Then came nine days of quiet while node operators rebuilt their infrastructure on patched servers.

On Sunday, the picture began to change. Patched operators reconnected, and the network started processing again. Requests submitted before the shutdown should clear as more operators return, Threshold said. But the project did not announce a date for full restoration of deposits, minting and redemptions.

The operational model matters here. tBTC's bridge does not rely on a single custodian or multisig. Independent node operators collectively authorize every Bitcoin movement, which means the system's availability depends on those operators individually updating their servers. A kernel-level vulnerability in the underlying Linux stack became, in effect, a protocol-level availability problem for the bridge.

What happens next?

Aave's risk provider, LlamaRisk, said it will propose restoring the tBTC reserve once Threshold's operations return to normal. That proposal would go through Aave's governance process before the freeze lifts.

For now, the market is in a holding pattern. The bridge is alive but not fully open. Aave's $120 million reserve is solvent but locked to new activity. Users with pending pre-shutdown requests must wait for operator capacity to build. The next concrete milestone is LlamaRisk's restoration proposal, which cannot land until Threshold confirms the bridge is handling deposits and redemptions at full capacity.