Summary
Circle Wrapped Bitcoin (cirBTC) is now available on Arc, bringing 1:1 bitcoin-backed (BTC) liquidity into the Economic OS for internet-native financial markets. Built for secure, neutral distribution, cirBTC helps market participants put BTC collateral to work across credit, trading, lending, settlement, treasury, and other institutional use cases.
Bitcoin (BTC) is essential collateral for onchain finance. It is also, by design, difficult to use outside its native network, the Bitcoin blockchain. This need to use BTC collateral on other chains has led to a variety of wrapped BTC options.
Onchain credit markets need deep collateral. Market makers need inventory that can move across venues. OTC desks need verifiable assets they can settle with institutional counterparties. Lending protocols need collateral that risk teams can evaluate continuously. Asset managers need ways to access liquidity without unwinding long-term BTC exposure.
Circle Wrapped Bitcoin (cirBTC) is now live on Arc, bringing bitcoin liquidity into the Economic OS for internet-native financial markets. cirBTC is a 1:1 backed wrapped bitcoin asset issued by Circle that is designed for institutions that need BTC collateral with clear reserve design, onchain verification, and a neutral issuer that does not operate a competing centralized exchange (CEX), decentralized exchange (DEX), or lending protocol.
For Arc, cirBTC functions as foundational infrastructure for a more complete onchain financial system.
Bitcoin liquidity on Arc adds financial utility
Healthy credit markets are built on usable collateral. Bitcoin remains one of the most widely held digital assets, but native BTC does not interact directly with smart contracts – a key sticking point. To participate in lending, borrowing, trading, collateral management, and other onchain financial activity, bitcoin needs a wrapped form that can move through programmable markets while native BTC is held in custody.
Wrapped bitcoin was already a meaningful asset category. Public market trackers show tokenized BTC liquidity concentrated across a small set of major products, which reinforces a simple truth for institutions: wrapped BTC is core market infrastructure, not a niche asset class. The core question institutions need to answer is what kind of infrastructure they should rely on.
When evaluating wrapped BTC options, many market participants find themselves deciding between options that don’t meet all their needs — often forced to choose between options with complex governance structures and those issued by companies with competing venues or lending businesses. That creates friction and uncertainty that influences collateral parameters, venue selection, balance sheet decisions, and the willingness of risk teams to support larger positions, or any position at all.
Arc is being built for real economic activity, including stablecoin-native lending, borrowing, trading, treasury operations, and settlement. For that system to be complete, it needs trusted BTC liquidity that can support borrow and lend markets.
Access cirBTC on Arc via Arc Portal
Arc Portal supports accessing cirBTC on Arc through two main paths:
Swap: Users can swap assets directly on Arc, such as USDC (Arc) for cirBTC (Arc), using the Swap function in Arc Portal. This is the fastest path for users who already hold assets on Arc and want exposure to cirBTC. Additionally, supported wrapped bitcoin assets on Ethereum can be swapped to cirBTC on Ethereum.
Bridge: Users can move cirBTC from Ethereum to Arc using the Bridge function on Arc Portal. This is ideal for users who already hold cirBTC on Ethereum and want to bring it to the Arc ecosystem.
Once users have cirBTC on Arc, they can put it to work through partners like Morpho and Aave.
Introducing Digital Asset-Backed Borrowing
Digital Asset-Backed Borrowing (DABB) is a new capability available to eligible Circle Mint LLC customers. It allows users to post cirBTC on Arc as collateral to pre-approved lending markets and receive USDC directly in their Mint accounts. The DABB offering was introduced to simplify the borrowing experience for Mint’s institutional users:
- Deposit BTC.
- Mint cirBTC.
- Supply cirBTC collateral to receive USDC.
- Repay borrowed USDC to release cirBTC collateral.
Using DABB to manage your position streamlines the borrowing process into a unified workflow that can be done within a Circle Mint account, allowing eligible institutional users to turn idle BTC collateral into always-on dollar-denominated liquidity through integrated third-party lending markets2 while remaining within the Circle UI and customer experience.
Designed to be secure, neutral, and verifiable
For institutions, cirBTC’s native BTC backing is only the starting point. The underlying BTC is custodied at a federally chartered trust bank, held for the exclusive benefit of cirBTC holders, and segregated from Circle's corporate assets. cirBTC is a 1:1 wrapped token. It is not a staked or derivative BTC product.
Reserve transparency is central to its design. BTC reserve data is published onchain through Chainlink Proof of Reserve, giving risk desks, developers, and protocols a way to continuously monitor collateralization. Circle's multi-address transparency model also allows counterparties to independently review BTC holdings on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Strategic neutrality is equally important, and it has a specific meaning here. Circle, as the asset issuer, does not operate a competing CEX, DEX, or lending protocol. Circle's incentive is for cirBTC to work broadly across venues, applications, and chains — including Arc and Ethereum — with additional supported blockchains expected over time.
This neutrality gives confidence to market makers seeding liquidity, OTC desks settling block trades, lending protocols underwriting collateral, trading firms managing hedges, and asset managers evaluating operational risk. Infrastructure should not compete for the same users, order flow, or protocol activity it is meant to support.
Built for Arc's credit markets
Arc is designed to support stablecoin-native financial applications with deterministic finality, predictable stablecoin-denominated fees, and open EVM compatibility. For credit markets, those attributes can support more precise liquidation logic, cleaner repayment flows, tighter collateral operations, and more predictable treasury workflows.
cirBTC adds a critical collateral leg to Arc. Institutions can use cirBTC in supported applications for lending, borrowing, trading, settlement, and treasury operations. A trading firm may post cirBTC as collateral to access USDC liquidity for hedging or inventory finance. An OTC desk may use cirBTC to settle institutional block trades directly with client wallets or custodial accounts. A lending protocol may accept cirBTC as collateral in markets where borrowers access USDC. A digital asset manager may use cirBTC to help manage BTC exposure while participating in onchain markets.
This is where the interoperability between cirBTC and USDC becomes powerful. BTC is a natural collateral asset. USDC is a natural borrow and settlement asset. Together on Arc, cirBTC and USDC support an onchain credit loop where BTC liquidity can help fund trading, operations, collateralized borrowing, and market activity without requiring holders to sell BTC.
That liquidity flywheel is central to Arc's broader vision. A complete financial system needs dollars, collateral, credit, trading venues, settlement, and applications that can compose around them. cirBTC strengthens Arc's strong liquidity foundation by bringing productive bitcoin collateral into that system.
Arc integrates into Circle’s full infrastructure stack
Institutional workflows are sensitive to operational risk. Every additional issuer, custodian, bridge, redemption process, and integration path creates another layer to diligence. To mitigate this risk, cirBTC on Arc is designed to fit into Circle's full-stack financial platform.
Circle Mint provides institutional workflows for minting and redeeming cirBTC. With over $97 trillion in lifetime transaction volume,1 USDC provides deep stablecoin liquidity for borrow and settlement use cases. Eligible Mint users can also leverage DABB, robust stablecoin liquidity, and cirBTC to directly borrow USDC at scale within Mint.
Arc provides infrastructure for financial applications that need predictable fees, fast finality, and composability. Together, these pieces give institutions a more coherent way to evaluate and use BTC liquidity onchain.
Productive bitcoin liquidity is now on Arc
Arc's ambition is to become the Economic OS for internet-native financial markets. That requires more than a fast chain, low fees, or a long list of supported assets. It requires a working financial system with liquidity, collateral, credit, settlement, and trusted infrastructure operating together. cirBTC helps move Arc closer to that vision.
By bringing 1:1 backed, verifiable BTC liquidity to Arc, cirBTC gives developers, businesses, and financial applications a stronger foundation for lending, trading, collateralized borrowing, treasury operations, and other capital-efficient use cases. It helps turn bitcoin into productive collateral in onchain markets, while preserving the reserve transparency and neutral distribution institutions expect. cirBTC-enabled bitcoin liquidity has a powerful new role to play in the next phase of internet-native finance.
Learn more about cirBTC.
1 USDC lifetime transaction volume as of August 24, 2026.
2 Lending services are provided by independent third-party providers, not by Circle. Circle does not originate, underwrite, or fund loans.
cirBTC is issued by Circle International Bermuda Limited, a Class F Digital Asset Business licensed and regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Circle Mint and related distribution services are provided by Circle Internet Financial, LLC, NMLS # 1201441.
Arc is an open L1 blockchain launched by Arc Network Services LLC ("Arc LLC") and operated by a permissioned validator set. Arc LLC provides software services only and does not offer regulated financial or advisory services. Arc has not been reviewed or approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services or any other regulatory authority.
The Arc network is provided "as is" and "as available." Use of Arc involves inherent risks associated with blockchain technology, including smart contract vulnerabilities, network disruptions, and the absence of recourse for transaction errors or losses. The ability to transact on Arc depends on the ability to obtain and use USDC to pay gas fees. Neither Arc LLC nor any permissioned validator is responsible for the content, accuracy, legality, or functionality of third-party applications, protocols, or services built on or integrated with Arc. You are solely responsible for features or services you provide to users, including obtaining any necessary licenses or approvals and otherwise complying with applicable laws.
All Arc features may be modified, delayed, or cancelled at any time without notice. Nothing herein constitutes a commitment, warranty, guarantee or legal, regulatory, tax, or investment advice.
The product features described in these materials are for informational purposes only. All product features may be modified, delayed, or cancelled without prior notice, at any time and at the sole discretion of Circle Technology Services, LLC. Nothing herein constitutes a commitment, warranty, guarantee or investment advice.
Custody of the Bitcoin underlying cirBTC is provided by Circle National Trust, a federally chartered national trust bank under the supervision and examination of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), on behalf of Circle International Bermuda Limited, the Circle affiliate that holds the underlying BTC for the exclusive benefit of cirBTC holders. Circle National Trust is the trade name of First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. Digital assets are not deposits, are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and may be subject to investment and other risks. Circle National Trust does not accept deposits or make loans.
Circle Mint and money transmission services are provided by Circle Internet Financial, LLC. Circle Internet Financial, LLC, NMLS # 1201441, is a licensed provider of money transmission services. See Circle’s licenses here. Circle Mint is currently available only to institutions and is not available to individuals.