Hassan Ahmed, Coinbase’s country director for Singapore, recently unveiled plans to introduce “cbBTC,” a wrapped Bitcoin asset, to the Solana network at the Breakpoint 2024 event. However, no specific launch date for the Bitcoin (BTC) token was provided during his address. The announcement was met with enthusiastic applause from attendees at the Solana-focused conference, signaling a strong interest in this collateralized asset.
Source: Solana
**Coinbase Launches cbBTC**
On September 12, Coinbase officially launched cbBTC for users in Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, and all U.S. states except New York. Initially, the wrapped Bitcoin asset made its debut on the Ethereum and Base networks. Coinbase clarified that cbBTC is fully backed on a 1:1 basis, with Bitcoin securely held by the centralized exchange. Importantly, there are no distinct order books or trading pairs for cbBTC available on the Coinbase platform.
According to data from CryptoQuant, cbBTC has rapidly ascended to become the third most popular wrapped Bitcoin product in the market. This achievement occurred within just a week, surpassing established competitors such as Huobi BTC (HBTC) and renBTC (RENBTC), both of which have been operational since 2020.
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Sky Community Proposes cbBTC as an Alternative to WBTC
In its brief existence, cbBTC has captured the attention of significant figures in the cryptocurrency industry. On September 12, the team behind the Sky lending and borrowing platform—previously known as Maker—announced their intention to eliminate Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) as a collateral asset. This decision stemmed from concerns regarding the involvement of Tron (TRX) founder Justin Sun with the project.
The Sky community suggested various alternatives to WBTC, including Coinbase’s cbBTC, as potential collateralized Bitcoin options. On September 19, the community voted overwhelmingly in favor of removing WBTC from their ecosystem, with more than 88% of participants supporting its elimination from the platform.
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