Circle, a digital payments and stablecoin company, has launched Circle Wrapped Bitcoin (cirBTC) on the Ethereum blockchain. The new asset allows institutions to use Bitcoin in Ethereum-based financial applications while keeping the underlying BTC securely held in custody.
Each cirBTC token is backed 1:1 by native Bitcoin. The reserves are held by a regulated Circle entity and are separated from the company’s corporate assets. This structure is designed to give institutional users access to decentralized finance tools without selling their Bitcoin holdings.
The launch brings Bitcoin collateral into Ethereum’s large on-chain financial ecosystem, where lending platforms, decentralized exchanges, tokenized assets, and stablecoin markets are already widely used. Institutions involved in trading, lending, treasury management, and settlement can now use cirBTC in supported third-party protocols.
Circle said reserve transparency will be supported through Chainlink, a blockchain data and oracle network. Using Chainlink Proof of Reserve, market participants can independently verify the bitcoin backing cirBTC through on-chain data and public blockchain records.
cirBTC is integrated with Circle Mint, the company’s institutional minting and redemption platform. Circle also plans to expand the asset beyond Ethereum over time, including future support within Arc, its infrastructure initiative focused on stablecoin-based financial services.
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