Wrapped Bitcoin Continues its Rapid Growth Surpassing $1 billion Outstanding

The total value of Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) has surpassed the billion-dollar mark as the demand for bitcoin Ethereum continues to surge. The BitGo-custodied tokens have exploded over the last few months as bitcoin holders look to put their assets to productive use in the ever-expanding world of DeFi. Users looking to acquire WBTC can do so on DEXs and when the price rises above spot, qualified merchants can mint more to profit off of the difference. Most of the mints are from familiar faces in DeFi investing such as Alameda Research and Three Arrows Capital. Once they are minted, most WBTC quickly finds its way into DeFi protocols so users can earn fees whether from loan interest, trading fees, or yield farming.

Source: Messari WBTC Dashboard

WBTC has solidified its dominance among centrally issued tokenized bitcoin, however, more trustless alternatives pose a looming threat by removing the single point of failure. renBTC has passed $250 million outstanding (although it is still maintained by a team multi-sig but plans to transfer control soon), while its closest competitor tBTC recently re-launched. Whether or not these alternatives will threaten WBTC's dominance will depend on users desiring the emergent properties of decentralization and are willing to sacrifice capital efficiency in order to see this vision through.

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