Arc enables Bitcoin liquidity with cirBTC in its stablecoin ecosystem

Circle has brought Bitcoin-backed collateral into a regulated, stablecoin-native blockchain environment without asking BTC holders to sell a single satoshi. Circle Wrapped Bitcoin, branded cirBTC, went live on the Arc network on September 21, 2026, five days after Arc itself launched its mainnet. The token offers 1:1 backing by actual Bitcoin, meaning every cirBTC in circulation is matched by a real BTC held in reserve. What cirBTC actually does Circle International Bermuda Limited issues cirBTC, and the Bermuda Monetary Authority regulates the operation. Real-time proof of reserves runs through Chainlink’s on-chain verification system. Users can convert from BTC, cbBTC, or wBTC into cirBTC with no fees on select flows, accessing the token through Arc’s native portal for swaps and bridges, or through Circle Mint for institutional participants. Circle Mint now also includes a Digital Asset-Backed Borrowing option for qualifying institutions. The infrastructure underneath cirBTC shares the same plumbing as USDC and EURC. The numbers from day one Morpho, one of the first lending protocols to integrate cirBTC, reported more than $150M in deposits into its USDC and EURC vaults on the fi...