Circle (CRCL) debuts cirBTC on Ethereum to challenge Coinbase (COIN) in the wrapped bitcoin market

Circle unveiled "cirBTC", a token backed 1:1 with the world's largest cryptocurrency to allow users to utilise their bitcoin wealth in DeFi protocols.

Circle (CRCL) debuts cirBTC on Ethereum to challenge Coinbase (COIN) in the wrapped bitcoin market

Finance

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

Circle 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.

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(Sandali Handagama/ CoinDesk)

Summary

Show

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

$

60,236.80

, 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 cirBTC to institutions that may focus their crypto allocation on BTC and are familiar with the company and trust its infrastructure due to its visibility in the stablecoin market. Circle's USDC is the

second-largest stablecoin

on the market with a cap of over $75 billion.

The introduction of cirBTC could see Circle going head to head with Coinbase and wBTC's primary custodian, BitGo Holdings (BTGO), for dominance of the institutional synthetic BTC market.

The market cap of all synthetic bitcoin tokens combined hovers between $12.5 billion and $13.5 billion, representing about 1% of bitcoin's total value of around $1.25 trillion.

Circle

Bitcoin News

Ethereum News

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Bitcoin

$

60,236.80

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Why it matters

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In May, combined exchange volumes fell 3.45% to $4.41T; the lowest since September 2024. RWA perpetual futures volumes rose 10.4% against the trend, hitting a new all-time high.

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