Circle Brings Regulated Bitcoin Exposure to DeFi with cirBTC

Circle has introduced cirBTC, a Bitcoin-backed collateral token that allows users to access regulated, stablecoin-native blockchain environments without selling their BTC. cirBTC is now live on the Arc network, which uses USDC as its gas token and primary settlement asset.

The token offers 1:1 backing by actual Bitcoin, with every cirBTC in circulation matched by a real BTC held in reserve. The operation is regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, and users can convert from BTC, cbBTC, or wBTC into cirBTC with no fees on select flows.

Morpho and Aave V4 have already integrated cirBTC, with Morpho reporting over $150M in deposits into its USDC and EURC vaults on the first day. The total cirBTC supply as of September 19-20 stood at around 949 tokens, valued at approximately $77M, with reserves exceeding the token count at approximately 951 BTC.