Circle launches cirBTC on Ethereum for institutional Bitcoin

Circle launched cirBTC on Ethereum. The token is a 1:1 wrapped Bitcoin asset that Circle describes as backed by native BTC and live on the Ethereum network.

Circle’s launch materials state cirBTC is backed by Bitcoin held through a Circle entity, with reserves separated from corporate assets. The company says reserves are designed for on-chain visibility and proof-of-reserve monitoring.

Circle is offering cirBTC to institutional customers through its existing interfaces, including Circle Mint and USDC issuance and redemption workflows. The company has also flagged planned support for Arc and additional chains.

Wrapped Bitcoin represents a claim on Bitcoin held off-chain because Bitcoin does not move natively through Ethereum smart contracts. For institutional users, important operational questions include who holds private keys, how reserves are verified, the redemption process, and how oracle and settlement workflows behave under operational conditions.

Circle positions cirBTC so counterparties that already route dollar flows through Circle can add BTC collateral without assembling separate custodians, wrappers or bridges. Other wrapped Bitcoin options exist on Ethereum and other chains; examples include cbBTC, which is backed 1:1 and available across multiple networks, and WBTC, which has been an established wrapper in Ethereum DeFi.

Adoption signals for cirBTC will include active reserve feeds or public dashboards, liquidity on exchanges and DeFi protocols, oracle support, protocol listings, and evidence that redemptions and settlements work in live conditions. Circle’s launch materials do not publish a full supply figure or a list of protocol integrations at release.

The launch materials link cirBTC to Circle’s institutional stack and to a proof-of-reserve framework. Circle described Arc as a planned environment for stablecoin finance and settlement tooling; the company says it expects cirBTC to receive multichain support over time.