Circle debuts cirBTC on Ethereum to challenge Coinbase in the wrapped bitcoin market

FinanceShareShare this articleCopy linkX iconX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailCircle debuts cirBTC on Ethereum to challenge Coinbase in the wrapped bitcoin marketCircle unveiled cirBTC, a token backed 1:1 by the world's largest cryptocurrency, to allow traders to use their bitcoin wealth in DeFi protocols.By Jamie Crawley|Edited by Sheldon Reback Jun 9, 2026, 10:14 a.m. 2 min readMake preferred on What to know: Circle's wrapped version of bitcoin is live on Ethereum as the stablecoin company takes on Coinbase for dominance of the synthetic BTC market.Circle is pitching cirBTC to institutions that focus their crypto allocation on bitcoin and may be familiar with Circle and trust its infrastructure because of its position in the stablecoin market.Total synthetic bitcoin market cap hovers between $12.5 billion and $13.5 billion, demonstrating it is still a niche area.Circle Internet's (CRCL) wrapped version of bitcoin BTC$63,271.85, cirBTC, is live on Ethereum as the company best known for its dollar-pegged stablecoin takes on Coinbase (COIN) for dominance of the synthetic BTC market.The New York-based firm said it developed cirBTC, a token backed 1:1 by the world's largest cryptocurrency, to allow traders to access their bitcoin wealth in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, including lending, decentralized exchange (DEXs), tokenized assets and stablecoins.Synthetic, or wrapped, bitcoin tokens exist to address the historical lack of provision for DeFi activities on the Bitcoin network. Many cryptocurrency users prefer to hold only bitcoin because it is worth more than every other crypto combined. But using it for DeFi is challenging because that Bitcoin lacks the native programmability of networks like Ethereum.The first token to cross the divide, wrapped bitcoin (wBTC), was introduced in 2019 and remains the largest, with a market cap of around $7.3 billion. Coinbase's (COIN) cbBTC, which appeared in 2024, sits at just under $5.4 billion.Circle is pitching cirBT…

Circle debuts cirBTC on Ethereum to challenge Coinbase in the wrapped bitcoin market

Coins in this story

Related stories

USDT's flashing a golden cross and that may be bad news for bitcoin

Humanity Protocol token crashes more than 80% after a $32 million private-key hack

Coinbase and Cardless unveil credit card backed by stablecoins