Despite many wrapped bitcoin products now available, with many more likely coming out in the years ahead, the OG wrapped bitcoin WBTC continues to dominate this growing category of digital assets.

David Sencil sat down with Z Liu, a director at Bit Global Trust, a Hong Kong-licensed trust company that provides part of the multi-party custody services for WBTC. Liu discussed WBTC’s importance, a recent restructuring of its custodial framework, and the product’s future in the broader crypto ecosystem.

The Role and Necessity of WBTC

For those unfamiliar with the category created by WBTC, wrapped bitcoin is essentially a tokenized version of bitcoin—“wrapped” so it can be used on non-Bitcoin blockchains such as Ethereum. By enabling bitcoin holders to participate in (defi), WBTC expands Bitcoin’s utility beyond its traditional role as a store of value. This is important because bitcoin’s value accounts for the single largest source of liquidity in the entire crypto industry. Before wrapped bitcoin, that liquidity was essentially frozen on the Bitcoin network, or fractured through centralized custodial services like centralized exchanges or lending platforms such as Celsius.

“WBTC is perhaps the most iconic and absolutely the longest running Bitcoin-centered product that operates across various different blockchains,” Liu explained.

He emphasized that Bitcoin, as the largest crypto asset by market capitalization, remains “locked up in a really static form” when simply held in wallets. WBTC unlocks that liquidity, allowing users to deposit one bitcoin in exchange for one WBTC. The underlying BTC remains in cold storage, while users can deploy their WBTC on various decentralized lending, trading, and smart contract platforms.

Liu noted: “It allows a Bitcoin holder to enjoy the best of both worlds … you are a long-term believer in Bitcoin, and you sit on it, but at the same time, you can utilize WBTC … across different blockchains.”

Addressing Decentralization Concerns Through Restructuring

One point often raised by Bitcoin maximalists is the custodial nature of WBTC: a centralized entity holds the underlying Bitcoin. In response, Liu stressed the recent restructuring of the WBTC custodial framework to assuage these concerns.

“It took a while… WBTC has been around since 2018,” said Liu. “Now, after the restructuring, we effectively converted this custodian structure into a multi-institution platform, instead of one single platform.”

Under this new model, custody is no longer performed by a single U.S.-based entity. Instead, multiple licensed institutions across different jurisdictions, including Bit Global Trust in Hong Kong, share custodial responsibilities. This reduces “the single point of failure risk” and mitigates regulatory uncertainties. Furthermore, multi-signature protocols and geographically distributed operations enhance security for the roughly $14–$15 billion in bitcoin that Bit Global Trust manages.

“As of now, we manage about close to $14–$15 billion worth of bitcoin. So that’s a heck of a lot of responsibility,” Liu remarked. “We have a license regime, which is very important, because that means the custodian operators are obliged and act as a fiduciary.”

A Mirror to Spot Bitcoin ETFs

Liu positioned WBTC as an essential counterpart to spot bitcoin ETFs, which lock up bitcoin in exchange for a traditional market ticker on stock exchanges. While ETFs “collect fiat money and acquire Bitcoin” for retail or institutional investors—who effectively hold a piece of paper—WBTC takes the opposite approach: it wraps actual bitcoin, empowering users to keep exposure to the underlying asset and engage with defi protocols.

“We wrap, we collect the BTC, put it in a safe, keep it in a centralized custodian … and in return, the user gets WBTC,” Liu explained, contrasting that to ETFs that store Bitcoin away from direct user access. “The difference being, they [ETF providers] give you a piece of paper, whereas we allow the bitcoin to circulate on various different blockchains for defi applications.” The spot ETFs in their current form lock away that liquidity, and the whole ecosystem suffers from it.

Looking Ahead

With continued regulatory developments in the United States and growing institutional acceptance of Bitcoin worldwide, Liu sees WBTC’s role expanding. He believes that as sovereign nations and major institutions increasingly view bitcoin as a “strategic reserve” asset, the demand for secure custody and interoperability will only grow.

“The decentralized nature of Bitcoin and the blockchain is something we want to keep,” Liu emphasized. “WBTC, in a way, is almost like the mirror image of a Bitcoin ETF—in the crypto format.”

Ultimately, by combining robust, regulated custodial practices with decentralized applications, Liu is emphatic that WBTC and Bit Global Trust aim to preserve Bitcoin’s ethos while enhancing its functionality. For defi enthusiasts, institutional investors, and everyday users alike, wrapped bitcoin offers a bridge between two vital worlds in the crypto landscape—maximizing liquidity without surrendering long-term BTC ownership or the broader promise of blockchain technology.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。