Circle Internet, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, has launched cirBTC, a wrapped bitcoin token on Ethereum backed 1:1 by BTC. The move positions Circle to compete with Coinbase's cbBTC and BitGo's wBTC for dominance in the institutional synthetic BTC market. cirBTC aims to allow traders to use their bitcoin holdings in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols such as lending, DEXs, tokenized assets, and stablecoins. While synthetic bitcoin tokens address Bitcoin's lack of native programmability, the combined market cap of all such tokens is about $12.5–13.5 billion, representing roughly 1% of Bitcoin's total value. Circle is targeting institutional investors who already trust its infrastructure due to its prominence in the stablecoin market, where USDC has a market cap exceeding $75 billion. The launch intensifies competition in the wrapped bitcoin space, which has been dominated by BitGo's wBTC (market cap $7.3B) and Coinbase's cbBTC (market cap $5.4B).

Key facts

• Circle launched cirBTC, a 1:1 Bitcoin-backed token on Ethereum for DeFi.
• cirBTC competes with wBTC (BitGo) and cbBTC (Coinbase) in the synthetic BTC market.
• Synthetic bitcoin market cap is ~$12.5–13.5B, about 1% of Bitcoin's total value.
• Circle targets institutions familiar with its USDC stablecoin infrastructure.

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