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Business Score 45 Neutral

Circle Enters Bitcoin Market with cirBTC, Targets Institutional Investors

Apr 03, 2026 03:45 UTC
BTC-USD, USDC, COIN
Short term

Circle, the stablecoin issuer behind USDC and EURC, is launching a new wrapped Bitcoin product called cirBTC. The move aims to compete with existing offerings from BitGo and Coinbase in the institutional market.

  • Circle is launching cirBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin product for institutional investors.
  • cirBTC will be available on Ethereum, Circle’s Arc blockchain, and the Circle Mint platform.
  • BitGo’s WBTC and Coinbase’s cbBTC currently dominate the wrapped Bitcoin market with $8 billion and $5.9 billion in market capitalization, respectively.
  • The combined supply of WBTC and cbBTC is approximately 208,000 BTC.
  • Other exchanges like Kraken, Binance, and OKX have their own wrapped Bitcoin products, but with smaller market caps.

Stablecoin issuer Circle has announced the launch of cirBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin product designed for institutional investors. The asset will be available on Ethereum, Circle’s Arc blockchain, and the Circle Mint platform, with a 1:1 backing by Bitcoin. The product is intended to provide institutions with a secure and neutral option for using Bitcoin in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. The wrapped Bitcoin market is currently dominated by BitGo’s WBTC and Coinbase’s cbBTC. BitGo’s WBTC has a market capitalization of approximately $8 billion with 119,157 tokens in circulation, while Coinbase’s cbBTC, launched in September 2024, has a market capitalization of $5.9 billion and a supply of 88,800 tokens. Other exchanges like Kraken, Binance, and OKX have also launched their own wrapped Bitcoin products, though their market caps are significantly smaller. The combined supply of WBTC and cbBTC is around 208,000 BTC, according to CoinGecko. Circle’s entry into the wrapped Bitcoin space could intensify competition in the institutional market, offering institutions an additional option for leveraging Bitcoin in DeFi. The move aligns with the growing interest from financial institutions in exploring decentralized finance and expanding Bitcoin’s utility across different blockchain ecosystems.

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