As a seasoned crypto investor with years of experience navigating the volatile and ever-evolving digital asset landscape, I view Coinbase’s expansion of cbBTC to Solana as a strategic move that could potentially reap significant benefits for both the company and its users.


Coinbase revealed plans to extend the availability of their wrapped Bitcoin offering, ‘cbBTC’, onto the Solana blockchain network. Initially introduced in September, users could only access cbBTC on the Ethereum platform and Coinbase’s own Layer 2 Base blockchain.

As a researcher, I am currently exploring the Solana blockchain, where I am developing a Solana Program Library (SPL) token that serves as a versatile asset representation. This token can embody both fungible and non-fungible assets, offering a flexible solution for various use cases.

Coinbase’s cbBTC Debuts on Solana

At its debut, cbBTC will be seamlessly incorporated into several notable DeFi platforms on the Solana network, such as Jupiter Exchange, Meteora, Kamino Finance, Jito, Phoenix, Drift Protocol, Raydium, Orca, Save Finance (previously known as Solend), Manifest, and Loopscale Labs.

With this action, Coinbase aims to expand the usage of cbBTC outside the Ethereum network, moving it beyond its current limitations within the Ethereum ecosystem. Previously, Coinbase had made clear their intentions in this regard.

As a researcher delving into the world of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), I’m excited about Coinbase’s groundbreaking initiative, cbBTC. This reliable and respected representation of Bitcoin is not just another token; it’s a 1:1 equivalent backed by actual Bitcoin securely held in Coinbase’s custody. With over a decade of proven track record in safeguarding billions of Bitcoin for institutions and customers worldwide, you can trust that your assets are in good hands with Coinbase. Transparency has always been a priority for us, and we’ve made it a commitment to provide proof of reserves as part of the cbBTC development plan, ensuring greater transparency and accountability.

Furthermore, it was separately disclosed by Coinbase that the market value of cbBTC surpassed $1 billion within nine weeks of its debut.

Proliferation of Wrapped Bitcoin Tokens

The demand for Bitcoin tokens encased in a wrapper is growing, as more entities join the market. These tokens aim to give Bitcoin owners access to other platforms and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) services beyond Bitcoin, all without needing to sell their original holdings. Essentially, these wrapped Bitcoin tokens are equivalent to Bitcoin and are primarily found on Ethereum.

Initially introduced in the year 2019 by BitGo, WBTC stands out as the most substantial one, boasting a supply of around 150,000 units and a market capitalization of approximately $11.18 billion. Following suit in the year 2020, we saw the emergence of HBTC from HTX, tBTC by Threshold Network, and renBTC from Ren Protocol.

This year, just like Coinbase, Kraken introduced its own version of a Bitcoin token called kBTC. It’s been made accessible on both the Ethereum network and the Optimistic Rollup (OP) Mainnet.

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2024-11-08 18:30