What is the difference between WBTC and cbBTC?

WBTC is wrapped Bitcoin custodied by BitGo since 2019. cbBTC is wrapped Bitcoin custodied by Coinbase, launched September 2024. Both are 1:1 backed by BTC held in reserves. The mechanics are essentially identical; the difference is which custodian holds the underlying Bitcoin and the operational and regulatory risk attached to that custodian.

Which wrapped Bitcoin is safer?

Both are custodial — neither is trustless. cbBTC inherits Coinbase's NYDFS BitLicense, public-company SEC reporting, and SOC 2 audit posture. WBTC inherits BitGo's longer track record (since 2019) and the BTC Custodian Group multisig. For US-regulated counterparties, cbBTC has tighter supervision; for users prioritising operational longevity, WBTC has 5+ years of clean history. Neither has ever experienced a 1:1 reserve breach.

Has WBTC ever depegged from BTC?

WBTC has briefly traded below 1 BTC during liquidity crunches (notably November 2022 around the FTX collapse, dropping to ~0.96 BTC for a few hours). It re-pegged within a day. There has never been a custodial failure of the underlying reserves. The depeg events were market-microstructure issues, not solvency events.

Can I switch between WBTC and cbBTC easily?

Yes, but each conversion involves bridging or DEX trades and incurs slippage + fees. On Base in 2026, WBTC and cbBTC pair against USDC on Aerodrome and Uniswap V3 with reasonable liquidity. The clean path is to redeem one to BTC at the issuer (free, but requires KYC and takes 1-3 business days), then mint the other.

Which one does Zeeria support?

Zeeria currently lists WBTC on Base. The protocol design supports both WBTC and cbBTC as collateral types; the final supported asset set is informed by audit feedback and on-chain liquidity on each pair.

WBTC vs cbBTC: Which Wrapped Bitcoin Should You Use in 2026?

The mechanics, briefly

Both tokens follow the same template: you send native BTC to a custodian, the custodian mints an equivalent amount of ERC-20 token on Ethereum (or an L2 like Base), the ERC-20 is redeemable 1:1 for native BTC. Reserves are publicly auditable on both sides — every token in circulation must be backed by an equivalent BTC held in cold storage at the issuer.

The key fact: both tokens are custodial. If BitGo or Coinbase loses the underlying BTC — through a hack, regulatory seizure, internal fraud, or operational error — the wrapped token becomes worthless. There is no trustless alternative at scale in 2026. tBTC (Threshold) and renBTC (now defunct) attempted this; tBTC has <5% of WBTC's circulating supply.

Side-by-side comparison

Property	WBTC	cbBTC
Custodian	BitGo Trust (multisig with BitGo + merchants)	Coinbase Custody Trust (NY trust company, NYDFS regulated)
Launched	January 2019	September 2024
Track record	7+ years no reserve breach	~2 years no reserve breach
Regulatory framing	BitGo Trust (SD)	Public company, SEC reporting, NY BitLicense
Redemption KYC	Yes, via BitGo merchant	Yes, via Coinbase account
Base liquidity 2026	Established (Aerodrome, Uni V3)	Growing fast, surpassed WBTC on Base TVL Q4 2025
Worst depeg event	Nov 2022, ~0.96 BTC for hours	None recorded

What actually moved the market in 2025

When cbBTC launched September 2024, three things compounded into a 2025 share shift:

Coinbase's direct mint flow. If you already hold BTC at Coinbase (and tens of millions do), converting to cbBTC and bridging to Base is a 2-click operation. Converting BTC to WBTC requires going through BitGo or a DEX with attendant slippage.
Coinbase's integration into Base. Coinbase operates Base; cbBTC is the canonical wrapped BTC for that ecosystem. Aerodrome, Compound V3, and Aave all added cbBTC markets within months.
BitGo institutional changes 2024-2025. BitGo changed its merchant structure in late 2024, briefly creating governance uncertainty around WBTC issuance. Reserves were never at risk, but several institutional holders preemptively rotated to cbBTC during the noise.

By Q4 2025, cbBTC overtook WBTC by TVL on Base specifically — not on Ethereum mainnet, where WBTC still leads.

How to actually pick

The question is which custodian you trust more, given how you plan to use the token:

You're a US user already on Coinbase → cbBTC. You already trust Coinbase with custody of native BTC; using their wrapped version doesn't add risk you weren't already taking.
You're on Ethereum mainnet, not Base → WBTC has deeper liquidity there (most major lending markets use it as the canonical BTC collateral).
You distrust Coinbase more than BitGo (or vice versa) → use the other one. There's no objectively right answer to this.
You want maximum decentralisation → split your collateral across both, accepting the operational complexity. Or wait for tBTC to scale (as of April 2026 it has not).

The risks both share

Choosing between WBTC and cbBTC doesn't escape custodial risk — it just picks which custodian you face. Both share:

Reserve seizure risk. Either custodian could be compelled by US authorities to freeze reserves; that would freeze the entire wrapped supply at once.
Internal failure risk. Operational mistakes, insider attacks, or mismanagement at either institution would impact reserves. Both publish proof-of-reserves but neither is fully real-time on-chain.
Bridge risk on L2s. The wrapped token on Base or any L2 is bridged from Ethereum or directly minted on the L2. The bridge layer adds a thin extra trust assumption.

The conservative borrower's answer in 2026: don't put more BTC into wrapped form than you can afford to lose to a custodial event. For a $1M position, consider splitting 50/50.

What Zeeria does

Zeeria currently lists WBTC as the supported Bitcoin collateral on Base. The protocol design supports both WBTC and cbBTC; the final supported asset set is informed by audit feedback and on-chain liquidity on each pair. Contracts are open and verified — read the source on Basescan.

Either way, the protocol uses a Chainlink BTC/USD price feed combined with a wrapper-vs-BTC ratio feed (when available, e.g. Chainlink's WBTC/BTC PoR feed). If the wrapper trades below 0.99 BTC for sustained periods, the oracle pauses new borrows — see the Risk Disclosure for the specifics.