TL;DR:
- Backing and verification: cirBTC maintains a 1:1 parity with native Bitcoin held in segregated custody at a federally chartered trust bank, with real-time reserve auditing powered by Chainlink Proof of Reserve.
- Initial supply and metrics: As of September 20, 2026, the total supply stood at approximately 949 tokens (with around 397 on Arc and the remainder on Ethereum), backed by 951 BTC worth roughly $77 million.
- Immediate integrations: Protocols such as Morpho recorded more than $150 million in deposits across their USDC and EURC vaults during the first day, leveraging cirBTC as a collateral layer.
cirBTC is now live on the Arc network, as confirmed this Monday, September 21, by Circle. This launch aims to channel institutional Bitcoin liquidity into lending dApps and decentralized capital markets.
Bitcoin liquidity is now live on Arc.
— Arc (@arc) September 21, 2026
cirBTC brings 1:1 BTC-backed collateral into Arc’s stablecoin-native ecosystem, helping BTC become productive across lending, trading, collateral, settlement, and treasury workflows.
BTC as collateral. USDC as borrow and settlement asset.…
The issuance of cirBTC operates under a structure where each unit represents one Bitcoin held in segregated custody, separate from the issuer’s corporate balance sheet. Technical documentation from Arc details that the asset was designed without native yield mechanisms or embedded derivatives, preserving strict parity to prevent operational dislocations. Market participants can acquire the token via direct swap features on the Arc Portal or through official bridge transfers from the Ethereum network.
Arc’s infrastructure leverages USDC as its native gas token and primary settlement asset. According to the platform’s technical report, this architecture aims to establish a credit framework where Bitcoin collateral unlocks digital dollar liquidity without requiring investors to sell their underlying holdings. Data from the issuing firm suggests that this model could mitigate counterparty risks for market makers operating across decentralized venues.
Reserve Architecture and Institutional Credit
Holdings verification relies on the Chainlink Proof of Reserve mechanism, enabling continuous monitoring of the underlying Bitcoin reserves. Official minting reports note that affiliate Circle International Bermuda Limited manages the asset under the regulatory oversight of the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Corporate filings indicate that this corporate vehicle serves as an alternative for institutional trading desks that require compliant fiduciary frameworks prior to interacting with smart contracts.
Alongside the asset’s network rollout, a digital-asset-backed lending program was activated for eligible Circle Mint customers. This mechanism allows users to deposit cirBTC into vetted vaults to obtain direct liquidity in USDC. According to the company, lending services are facilitated by independent third parties, meaning the issuer neither originates nor underwrites the credit risk of the transactions.
The rollout was accompanied by the simultaneous activation of lending markets on Aave V4 and Morpho. On-chain balance data disclosed following the debut indicates that Morpho absorbed over $150 million in deposits across its stablecoin vaults secured by the new wrapped BTC asset. Industry analysts note that this initial pool of liquidity will be a crucial factor in shaping order book depth across Arc over the coming weeks.
The development roadmap outlines the gradual addition of new trading pairs and the rollout of supplemental collateral options on the Arc Portal before the conclusion of the fourth quarter of 2026.
