Coinbase’s Tokenized Version of Bitcoin, cbBTC, Goes Live

TL;DR

• Crypto exchange Coinbase has launched its version of wrapped bitcoin, cbBTC.

• cbBTC has gone live on the Ethereum and Base networks.

cbBTC Goes Live on Base and Ethereum

Coinbase, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, has officially launched a tokenized version of Bitcoin. 

According to the crypto exchange, the Coinbase Wrapped BTC (cbBTC) is an ERC-20 token backed on a 1:1 basis with bitcoin (BTC). Coinbase holds the tokens and allows users to use Bitcoins they already hold in new ways onchain. 

Users can leverage cbBTC to provide liquidity to decentralized finance DeFi protocols or use it as collateral to borrow other cryptocurrencies. 

Coinbase revealed that several DeFi protocols are expected to offer support for its cbBTC, including DEXs Aerodrome and Curve, ending applications Aave, Sky Protocol, Compound, real-world assets provider Maple, and cross-chain bridges such as deBridge.

Coinbase will automatically convert Bitcoin sent by users from the exchanges to specific addresses on Base or Ethereum. It will be converted 1:1 from cbBTC to BTC and deposited into users’ Coinbase accounts. 

Currently, cbBTC is only available to Coinbase users in the United States (excluding New York State), U.K., EEA states, Singapore, Australia, and Brazil.

This latest development comes three weeks after Coinbase’s Base network introduced subnames created through the Ethereum Name Service infrastructure. The subnames, called Basenames, allow users to convert their complex hexadecimal addresses into human-readable names.