Coinbase tweeted that cbBTC is “coming soon,” whereas Base introduced plans to foster a Bitcoin-based DeFi ecosystem.
Coinbase seems to be readying to capitalize on the drama surrounding Wrapped Bitcoin’s impending restructure by launching its personal BTC token.
On Aug. 13, Coinbase teased the launch of cbBTC on social media, posting the cbBTC ticker for the primary time alongside “coming soon.” Coinbase already gives cbETH, a liquid staking token representing Ether staked with the centralized alternate.
The tweet got here as Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), the biggest wrapped Bitcoin token, is going through backlash over its plans to restructure. On Aug. 9, BitGo, the corporate behind WBTC, introduced it is going to switch management over Wrapped Bitcoin to a three way partnership between itself, BiT International, and Justin Solar — Tron’s controversial founder — after 60 days.
MakerDAO, the biggest collateralized debt protocol, is now pondering whether or not to disable new DAI minting backed by WBTC on each its Maker and SparkLend protocols. A governance proposal highlighted considerations relating to the Bitcoin underlying WBTC now not being custodied within the U.S., an absence of public details about the three way partnership, and the latest depegs suffered by the TrueUSD stablecoin after Solar turned concerned with the mission final June.
Wrapped or tokenized Bitcoin tokens are BTC-backed belongings used to maneuver the worth of Bitcoin onto different networks. WBTC operates on Ethereum and at the moment boasts a market cap of $9.38 billion — equating to only 0.78% of Bitcoin’s capitalization.
Base to foster Bitcoin-based DeFi ecosystem
Jesse Pollak, head of protocols at Coinbase and the creator of Base, the Ethereum Layer 2 from Coinbase, responded to the cbBTC information by tweeting that his staff goals to construct a thriving Bitcoin ecosystem on Base.
“I love Bitcoin, am so grateful for its role [in] kickstarting crypto, and we’re going to build a massive Bitcoin economy on Base,” Pollak stated.
The remark comes as Base is extending its share of the Layer 2 market amid the success of its newest Onchain Summer time marketing campaign, which notably options factors distributions for contributors.
Information from GrowThePie exhibits 3.25 million wallets transacting on Base over the previous week, equating to 61.3% of the practically 5.3 million wallets energetic throughout Ethereum’s complete Layer 2 ecosystem.
Mixed every day transaction quantity throughout Ethereum Layer 2s tagged a brand new all-time excessive of 12.5 million on Aug. 13 after greater than tripling because the begin of February. Coinbase accounted for 31.8% of the overall whereas retesting its file excessive of three.98 million transactions.
Base is the second-largest L2 by whole worth locked with $6.37 billion, coming in behind Arbitrum One with $15.3 billion.
Learn Extra: MakerDAO Mulls Offboarding WBTC Amid Wrapped Bitcoin Restructure
