Circle Introduces cirBTC: A Regulated Wrapped Bitcoin Token

Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, is expanding its product offerings with the launch of cirBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin token that meets regulatory compliance standards. The new token will be backed 1:1 by Bitcoin held in direct custody by Circle, a registered financial institution.

cirBTC will utilize real-time on-chain reserve verification for transparency and will be launched on both Ethereum and Circle's proprietary Layer 1 blockchain, Arc. This move is expected to provide institutional investors with a more secure and transparent way to access Bitcoin in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.