Circle built cirBTC as wrapped bitcoin aimed at institutional collateral desks

@circle has launched cirBTC, a wrapped bitcoin token built for institutional collateral desks, bringing its reserve and custody infrastructure to bear on a market long dominated by BitGo's WBTC and Coinbase's cbBTC.

Bank-grade custody and real-time reserve verification

Each cirBTC token is backed 1:1 by native $BTC. Custody sits with Circle National Trust, a federally chartered trust bank that operates under direct supervision of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Circle National Trust operates as a qualified custodian under OCC supervision and provides regulated fiduciary custody services to Circle affiliates and their institutional clients.

Rather than relying on periodic monthly attestations, reserves are verified onchain in real time through @chainlink Proof of Reserve, giving counterparties continuous visibility into the collateral backing each token. Circle describes the product's standard as covering 1:1 backing, segregated custody, ongoing onchain reserve visibility, and strategic neutrality.

Circle Internet Group received approval from the OCC to establish a national trust bank. The new entity, formally named First National Digital Currency Bank, will operate as Circle National Trust and is supervised directly by the OCC, the federal regulator responsible for national banks and national trust banks.

Target market and competitive positioning

cirBTC is now live on Ethereum, bringing wrapped bitcoin collateral into one of the deepest onchain financial markets. For institutions that operate across lending protocols, OTC workflows, market making, treasury operations, and settlement, this marks a practical expansion of bitcoin utility. Arc support is set to follow.

@circle is pitching the token at lending protocols, OTC desks and market makers that want $BTC collateral alongside $USDC as the borrow asset from the same issuer. A treasury that already settles in USDC through Circle Mint can now hold BTC exposure through the same operational pipeline, the same legal entity, and the same compliance team. That unified workflow removes a vendor-management problem that has long complicated institutional crypto operations.

The product also sidesteps a structural conflict that affects some competing products. Circle does not operate a competing centralized exchange, decentralized exchange, or lending protocol, which gives institutions a clear rationale for using cirBTC across their own venues, clients, liquidity relationships, and risk policies.

cirBTC enters a market currently led by BitGo's WBTC and Coinbase's cbBTC. Coinbase's cbBTC, launched in September 2024, carries a market capitalization of around $5.9 billion, while BitGo's WBTC remains the dominant product at roughly $8 billion. Circle is betting that regulatory credibility and issuer neutrality can carve out a meaningful share of that market.

Sources:
Circle: cirBTC Is Live on Ethereum
CoinTelegraph: Circle to Launch cirBTC Wrapped Bitcoin for Institutions
Bitcoin.com News: Circle Wins OCC Approval for National Trust Bank