Circle Unveils Institutional-Grade Bitcoin-Backed Borrowing Service
Circle has introduced a Bitcoin-backed borrowing service for institutional users through its Circle Mint platform. Eligible customers can deposit Bitcoin and use Circle's wrapped token cirBTC as collateral to borrow USDC on supported DeFi lending protocols.
The new service, called Digital Asset-Backed Borrowing, allows borrowers to access USDC liquidity without handing custody of the underlying assets to the lending venues themselves. The borrowing terms, including rates, collateral requirements, and liquidation thresholds, are determined by the third-party lending market, not by Circle.
Circle plans to start with Morpho as the first lending protocol for cirBTC-collateralized borrowing and later add Aave and other protocols. New York clients are excluded from the offering.