Circle launches wrapped Bitcoin cirBTC, targeting the BTC DeFi market dominated by Coinbase

Odaily Planet Daily News Circle has announced the launch of its wrapped Bitcoin product, cirBTC, on the Ethereum blockchain. The token is fully backed 1:1 by Bitcoin, designed to help users integrate BTC assets into DeFi applications such as lending, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), tokenized assets, and stablecoins.

Circle stated that cirBTC is primarily aimed at institutional investors, whose target client base typically holds Bitcoin as a core crypto asset allocation and has already established trust in Circle's infrastructure through products like USDC. Currently, USDC's market capitalization has exceeded $75 billion, making it the second-largest stablecoin in the market.

The wrapped Bitcoin market is currently dominated by wBTC and Coinbase's cbBTC. Among them, wBTC, launched in 2019, has a market cap of approximately $7.3 billion, remaining the largest wrapped Bitcoin product; cbBTC, which went live in 2024, has a market cap close to $5.4 billion. With the launch of cirBTC, Circle will directly compete with Coinbase and wBTC's primary custodian, BitGo, for market share in institutional-grade wrapped Bitcoin.

Data shows that the total market capitalization of all wrapped Bitcoin tokens currently stands at approximately $12.5 billion to $13.5 billion, accounting for about 1% of Bitcoin's total market cap of roughly $1.25 trillion. (CoinDesk)