Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) Crypto Exchange

Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) is an ERC-20 token that was announced in 2018 by[ BitGo](https://www.bitgo.com/), [Kyber](https://kyber.network/), and [Ren](https://renproject.io/) to allegedly provide more liquidity to the Ethereum ecosystem. Cryptocurrencies are often wrapped on the blockchain they are not native to in order to expand their features or to increase the utility and liquidity of the said blockchain. WBTC is pegged to [Bitcoin](https://changenow.io/currencies/bitcoin) in a 1:1 proportion and claims to be transparent, 100% verifiable, and led by the community. More than 46 partners power it. The existence of Wrapped Bitcoin allows Bitcoin holders to exchange their assets to WBTC and then access Defi instruments such as lending, yield farming, staking, and many more. The wall between Bitcoin and Ethereum was a long-standing problem for the free flow of liquidity between the blockchains. WBTC tokens have to be requested to obtain them which is followed by the KYC and AML procedures. The request is necessary as the tokens are minted by a custodian and only then sent to a merchant such as Airswap, Kyber, etc. WBTC was the first wrapped token of the market which is highlighted in the project’s whitepaper. The asset's [whitepaper](https://wbtc.network/assets/wrapped-tokens-whitepaper.pdf) also states that the framework of the project allows multiple institutions to perform different roles which tackle the issues asset-backed tokens might face.