[NEWS] Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) to be listed for the first time on Coincheck

On the 6th, domestic cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck announced that it will begin handling the cryptocurrency Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC). It will begin handling it in the afternoon of the 11th. This will be the first time that WBTC will be listed on a domestic exchange.

After listing, it is expected that there will be a shortage of selling demand compared to buying demand, as there will be few users holding WBTC. Therefore, in order to maintain a balance between buying and selling demand and provide a smooth trading environment for users, liquidity will be provided to the exchange for a certain period of time after handling begins.

The order quantity is 1.5 WBTC, and the period is scheduled from the 11th to the 18th. The order method is to place an order at a limit price according to the actual price using an automatic ordering system.

WBTC's main feature is that it achieves compatibility with Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH), which are issued on different chains, by standardizing Bitcoin (BTC) to the ERC-20 format. In addition, the cryptocurrency custody service allows for minting and burning to adjust the supply, achieving a price linkage of 1WBTC = 1BTC.

Until now, if you wanted to use your Bitcoin in DeFi, you had to exchange it for a cryptocurrency that complies with ERC-20, but by using WBTC, you can use DeFi built on the Ethereum blockchain while holding Bitcoin.

For example, Bitcoin cannot be used directly on Uniswap or SushiSwap, which are DEXs (decentralized exchanges) famous for the ERC-20 standard, but WBTC can be used.

Outside Japan, it is available on exchanges such as Binance, HotBit, Coinbase, and Uniswap. The supply is 163,106 WBTC, and the market capitalization is about $4.5 billion (66.8 billion yen) at the time of writing, ranking 16th.

Reference:Announcement
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