Coinbase to suspend trading for wBTC (wBTC) in December

Coinbase has announced that it will cease trading of wBTC on all of its platforms, including Coinbase.com and Coinbase Prime, on December 19, 2024. The move comes as part of a standard asset review with wBTC trading suspended and limited to only buying and selling with restrictions. However, users will be able to withdraw WBTC even after trading is closed.

We regularly monitor the assets on our exchange to ensure they meet our listing standards. Based on our most recent review, Coinbase will suspend trading for wBTC (wBTC) on December 19, 2024, on or around 12pm ET.

— Coinbase Assets 🛡️ (@CoinbaseAssets) November 19, 2024

Launched in November 2019, wBTC has been instrumental in the integration of Bitcoin into the DeFi ecosystems. It is pegged 1:1 and supported by Bitcoin and has a treasury backed by BitGo, its primary custodian. At the moment, the market capitalization of WBTC is above $13.6 billion.

The delisting comes a few weeks after Coinbase introduced Coinbase Wrapped Bitcoin (cbBTC), a direct rival to WBTC. The latest product launch of cbBTC has received backlash from the likes of Justin Sun, a key person in the crypto space and current custodian of wBTC.

His connection with wBTC started in August this year when BitGo partnered with him and BiT Global to oversee the wBTC token. Sun’s involvement has caused quite a stir in the crypto community. Leading exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken launching their own tokenized versions of Bitcoin.

Sun has even publicly criticized cbBTC and accused Coinbase of not undergoing a proof-of-reserves process. This is a process that confirms the actual existence of the tokens.

However, Sun’s own exchange, Poloniex, has not done a proof-of-reserves audit either. However, Coinbase has pointed out that wBTC is not well integrated into its current structure as it exists today. This is even as Coinbase is still adding assets such as Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Pepe to its list of assets. These tokens have been referred to as being speculative.

This is in tandem with the growing popularity of Coinbase’s own tokenized Bitcoin, known as cbBTC. The wBTC team expressed shock and concern at the delisting news. According to them, they have fully supported compliance, security of assets, and decentralization based on the announcement made on X.

They noted that WwBTC remains the most decentralized wrapped bitcoin on the market and stressed the importance of the governance structure behind the token. The wwBTCBTC team appealed to Coinbase to reverse the decision and said that they are willing to talk to the exchange further to identify any issues or concerns they may have.

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