Early Wednesday, Coinbase tweeted about its upcoming launch of “cbBTC,” a new competitor to Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC). The latest update reveals that Coinbase has now pre-launched a registration portal for cbBTC, allowing users to sign up using various wallets.
According to journalist and blockchain blogger Colin Wu, the largest crypto exchange plans to build a Bitcoin economic system on the Base network. Tron founder Justin Sun has addressed increasing concerns about his association with Wrapped Bitcoin.
He clarified his role and the security protocols related to WBTC. This followed BitGo’s announcement of transitioning WBTC’s business to multi-institutional custody.
Additionally, MakerDAO’s risk management unit, BA Labs, proposed offboarding WBTC. Meanwhile, Aave’s risk division, Chaos Labs, is gradually determining how to handle WBTC. Following Coinbase’s announcement about “cbBTC,” the head of Coinbase’s Base network, Jesse Pollak, expressed her love for Bitcoin.
Some speculators suggest that Coinbase’s announcement might indicate its own wrapped Bitcoin product, which might potentially launch on the Layer-2 chain Base. One speculator mentioned on X that cbBTC could simply mean more collateral for DeFi on Ethereum.
Coinbase’s plans for cbBTC
Coinbase had previously announced Wrapped Staked ETH (cbETH), a tradable form of staked Ethereum (ETH). The exchange noted that cbETH offers the flexibility to sell, transfer, or use it, and there are no fees for wrapping staked ETH. cbBTC might offer similar features when it launches.
Furthermore, if Coinbase plans to launch cbBTC on the Base chain, it would likely offer benefits such as lower fees for minting and redeeming tokens and potentially drive increased use of WBTC.
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