Introducing the Ducat Guardian Network. Bitcoin-native credit that reduces counterparty risk through independent verification, distributed signing authority and settlement directly on Bitcoin. BTC collateral stays in Bitcoin Taproot vaults. Each participating Guardian independently verifies transactions, and a threshold of Guardians must contribute to produce a valid group signature. No single Guardian can sign alone. Distributed signing authority Each Guardian holds a cryptographic key share. FROST threshold cryptography combines their contributions into a single Schnorr signature once the required threshold is met. This reduces the trust placed in any one Guardian and makes decentralisation part of how transactions are authorised. Independent verification Every participating Guardian validates transactions against Ducat’s protocol rules before signing. A coordinator’s instruction alone is insufficient. Ordinary vault spending also requires the borrower’s signature. Liquidation follows a separate spending path. Native to Bitcoin Collateral remains on Bitcoin. Transactions settle on Bitcoin, which enforces the vault’s spending conditions and verifies signatures. Guardians connect Ducat’s credit system to Bitcoin’s settlement layer through distributed validation and signing. Resilience through independence The network can continue signing when some Guardians are unavailable, provided the required threshold remains available. Independent teams, secure key management and diverse infrastructure strengthen that resilience and reduce reliance on individual counterparties. We’re reviewing applications from established organisations with the technical capability and operational discipline to become Guardians.