Coinbase Drops Hints About a Wrapped Bitcoin Token on Base

• Coinbase has recently shared a mysterious post on X, citing cbBTC.
• While the post followed another post, which quoted “Coming soon,” analysts speculated the launch of a wrapped Bitcoin.
• The development follows the recent controversy surrounding BitGo, WBTC, and Justin Sun.

A cryptic X post by Coinbase has ignited speculation about the launch of a wrapped Bitcoin token, potentially called, cbBTC. The US-based crypto platform shared a thread mentioning “cbBTC,” followed by a subsequent post saying, “Coming soon.”

An hour later, Jesse Pollak, the head of Coinbase’s layer-2 network Base, expressed his enthusiasm for Bitcoin on X, stating that Base plans to build a “massive Bitcoin economy.”

These developments have led analysts and industry experts to speculate that Coinbase may be preparing to launch its own wrapped Bitcoin token, cbBTC, to compete with BitGo’s Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC). This speculation is fueled in part by the timing of Coinbase’s cryptic messages, which came shortly after the recent controversy surrounding BitGo and Justin Sun.

BitGo, the custodian behind WBTC, had announced plans to transfer control of WBTC to a joint venture with BiT Global and Justin Sun’s Tron ecosystem. While some in the community have expressed concerns about Sun’s involvement, Sun has clarified that his participation is purely strategic and that he has no access to WBTC’s private keys.

Further fueling the speculation, Coinbase has now released a “cbBTC pre-launch registration.” The community has responded positively, with a few suggesting that Coinbase is aiming to dominate the wrapped Bitcoin market. Pollak’s post has also received encouraging responses, indicating support for the potential cbBTC launch.

The WBTC is notably a tokenized version of Bitcoin built on the Ethereum blockchain, compliant with the ERC-20 standards. If the speculation proves true, Coinbase’s cbBTC would likely be another tokenized Bitcoin, but on the Base ecosystem.