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 the underlying BTC is held securely in custody.
Each cirBTC token is backed 1:1 by native Bitcoin. The reserves are held by a regulated Circle entity and are segregated from the company’s operating assets. This structure is designed to give institutional users access to decentralized financial instruments 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 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 cirBTC’s bitcoin backup via on-chain data and public blockchain records.
cirBTC is integrated with Circle Mint, the company’s institutional coin and exchange platform. Circle also plans to expand its assets beyond Ethereum over time, including future support within Arc, its infrastructure initiative focused on stablecoin-based financial services.
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