Over the span of ten months, since mid-December 2022, the cryptocurrency known as wrapped bitcoin (WBTC) experienced a reduction of nearly 23,000 coins from its circulation. Today, WBTC has 79,839 distinct wallet holders. Notably, a hefty 73.76% of these tokens are concentrated within the top 100 holders.
Aave and Compound Emerge as Leading Holders of Wrapped Bitcoin
As of October 22, 2023, there are 79,839 individual wallets holding WBTC, a token pegged 1:1 with bitcoin (BTC). The circulating WBTC tokens number 163,006, valuing the project at $4.88 billion. From December 17, 2022, there’s been a 12.31% reduction in WBTC’s circulating supply, declining from 185,909 WBTC to the current 163,006 WBTC.
The inception of the Wrapped Bitcoin project is credited to a collaboration between Bitgo, Kyber Network, and Ren (previously known as Republic Protocol). It made its debut on the Ethereum blockchain in late January 2019. Minting and redemption processes are facilitated through custodians, and participants using these two processes must adhere to anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations.
In terms of market capitalization, WBTC claims the 16th position among the top 20 cryptocurrencies. Data reveals that dominant addresses are governed by leading decentralized finance (defi) entities such as Aave, Compound, Arbitrum’s gateway, Polygon’s bridge, and Makerdao. The largest wallet “0x9ff” is designated as “Aave: aWBTC Token V2”, possessing 10.67% of the circulating WBTC.
Following closely, the address “0xccF” stands as the second-largest holder, identified as “Compound: cWBTC2 Token,” commanding 9.84% of the circulating WBTC. Compound also has its grip on the third-largest “0xc3d” wallet, with 7.96% of the WBTC supply. Intriguingly, every top ten WBTC account is a defi protocol, collectively overseeing 52% of the circulating wrapped bitcoin.
The elite 20 WBTC addresses hold a striking 59.18% of the total supply, while the top 50 account for 68.09%. Approximately 73.76% of WBTC in circulation, amounting to 120,230 WBTC, is held by the top 100 holders. WBTC is not only a pioneer of the wrapped crypto domain but also remains the largest wrapped project concerning BTC reserves.
In the Ethereum universe, however, there’s a notable prevalence of wrapped or synthetic ether that’s much larger compared to today’s tokenized bitcoin count.
What do you think about the concentration of WBTC’s circulating supply and the 10 defi protocols that hold 52%? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.