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

Odaily 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 their 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 exceeds $75 billion, making it the second-largest stablecoin in the market.

The wrapped Bitcoin market is currently dominated by wBTC and cbBTC, launched by Coinbase. Among them, wBTC, introduced in 2019, has a market cap of approximately $7.3 billion and remains the largest wrapped Bitcoin product; cbBTC, which went live in 2024, boasts 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 a share of the institutional wrapped Bitcoin market.

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