Bitcoin coin crossing an incomplete illuminated bridge above dark liquid

Liquid Bitcoin Trading Restarts While Reserve Coverage Remains Near 85%

By Isaac • September 11, 2026 11:10 pm • Comments

Liquid Bitcoin is trading again on SideSwap, but the network’s most important promise is still unfinished: holders cannot yet freely convert L-BTC back into Bitcoin through the normal peg-out process.

That distinction matters because trading and redemption are not the same thing. A market can reopen and discover a price while the mechanism designed to keep one L-BTC redeemable for one BTC remains paused.

CryptoSlate reported that SideSwap had reopened its markets after the September 6 Liquid incident. The restart lets users exchange assets inside the Liquid ecosystem again.

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Its review of public data found about 4,229.33 L-BTC outstanding against roughly 3,601.47 BTC in the identified federation reserve at 22:55 UTC on September 10. That works out to coverage near 85.15% and a gap of roughly 628 BTC at that snapshot.

An earlier set of figures published by SideSwap showed 4,205 L-BTC against 3,597 BTC, or about 85.5% coverage. The small movement in both numbers is a reminder that this is a live recovery process, not a final loss calculation.

The SideSwap incident statement said Liquid was producing blocks and its markets were open, while new peg-ins and peg-outs remained closed during the federation’s security review. In practical terms, users can exchange assets inside the Liquid ecosystem, but the normal route that burns L-BTC and releases BTC from the federation reserve is not yet broadly available.

That removes the arbitrage mechanism that ordinarily helps hold L-BTC close to parity. When peg-outs function, a trader can buy discounted L-BTC, redeem it for BTC and keep doing so until the gap narrows.

With that route paused, any market price reflects confidence in the recovery and available liquidity. It does not prove that every token can currently be redeemed at par.

Blockstream has also made clear that it will not pay a ransom for the return of stolen Bitcoin. That hard line shifts attention back to the engineering review, reserve restoration and the legal response rather than a negotiated payment to the attacker.

Three developments would materially change the picture. First, the federation needs to announce that peg-outs have resumed and explain whether there are limits or a staged rollout.

Second, the reserve must return to documented one-for-one coverage. Third, the exchanges and federation members that handle redemptions need to confirm that their own routes are functioning.

Until then, the reopened market answers only one question: what buyers and sellers are willing to pay for L-BTC today. It does not answer the harder question of whether every holder can leave Liquid with one Bitcoin for each L-BTC.

Samson Mow’s public account of discussions with the attacker helps explain why the remaining shortfall is being watched so closely. But a proposal, a promise of recapitalization or confidence in a future fix is not the same as a completed reserve restoration.

The encouraging part is that Liquid is moving through a staged restart and market activity has returned. The caution is just as plain: until peg-outs and full backing are independently visible again, L-BTC’s price is a measure of trust in the recovery—not a completed recovery itself.

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