Coinbase Teases Wrapped Bitcoin Alternative on Base
Coinbase Teases Wrapped Bitcoin Alternative on Base
Plus an old Base NFT is back in the news tied to a hot new token launch.
TylerD's Market Summary
GM!
Today's top news:
Crypto majors jump 2-4%, BTC leads at $61,300
Coinbase teases cbBTC as WBTC alternative
marginfi officials opens Arena, allowing for shorting of memes on SOL
Paypal USD drives stablecoin growth on SOL, flips ETH mc
BASED coin tied to Base, Introduced NFTs runs to $10M, pulls back
🤯 Coinbase Backs cbBTC
Bitcoin and Ethereum are the 2 clear crypto majors (with Solana vying to be in the conversation).
Since DeFi Summer in 2020, Ethereum users have been able to trade and use BTC in the form of Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC, or custodied BTC on Ethereum).
But now WBTC is on the go, with BitGo moving its WBTC business from the US to a global multi-sig (involving Justin Sun) leading to some concerns in the market.
And Coinbase is stepping in to capitalize.
What Happened?
Last night, the Coinbase X account made a very simple post: "cbBTC."
Those 5 letters were enough to start a firestorm of speculation, with many jumping to the conclusion that Coinbase is launching a Wrapped Bitcoin alternative of their own.
That speculation was basically confirmed just an hour later, as Base lead Jesse Pollack stated that the Base team has massive plans to build a Bitcoin economy on Base.
It looks like BTC is coming to the Base ecosystem.
Why It Matters
For starters, the goal of wrapping a crypto asset and bringing it to a non-native chain is to bring more liquidity to that chain.
WBTC is the clear leader, with $9.24B in liquidity according to Defillama.
It functions as an ERC20, is backed 1:1 by Bitcoin and is 100% verifiable.
So with WBTC, BTC holders can earn yield native to Ethereum and its DeFi ecosystem. And ETH holders can get access to BTC without leaving the chain.
Now, Coinbase has the opportunity to unlock its own version of Wrapped BTC, on Base, for all of its custodial holders.
They're making it easier than ever to move onchain via the Smart Wallet.
And now BTC holders will be able to move onchain, onto ETH (and its L2s like Base) without swapping out of BTC.
It is a massive unlock, for BTC holders and for ETH maxis, as the ETH economy will get a boost.
Many are already speculating that Coinbase's cbBTC will flip WBTC within months of launch.
Let's see if they can pull it off...
🚚 What else is happening in NFTs?
Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:
ETH led NFT trading volume with $4.3M on the day; Solana was next with $2.4M, and then BTC with $1.6M
ETH NFT leaders were very green up 5-15%; Pudgy +5% at 9 ETH, BAYC +12% at 11 ETH, Milady +4% at 4.06, Azuki +3% at 4.1
Ghxsts (+70%) and Sugartown Oras (+28%) were notable top movers
BTC NFT leaders were mixed; NodeMonkes even at 0.116 BTC, Puppets +11% at 0.084 BTC, Quantum Cats -1% at 0.27; GhostXXX +53% to 0.0023 BTC
The Runes leaders were very green; DOG +4% at $315M mc, RSIC +36% at $116M mc, BAMK +49% at $100M, PUPS +29% to $35M and BILLY +42% to $28M
Solana NFTs were very green; Mad Lads -4% at 52 SOL, SMB Gen 2 +2% at 20, DeGods +19% at 31, y00ts +25% at 6
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
Here's a rundown of major token or airdrop news from the day:
A $BASED token launched with everyone holding Base, Introduced NFTs eligible for 25k tokens (currently $3.5M mc)
marginfi's "Arena" is now officially open to all users looking to long or short any tokens on Solana
PACMOON holders have just today left to burn their $PAC before the $ARMY migration
Portal launched "Portal Pay" on Arbitrum, furthering its mission to build cross-chian payment rails to unite web3 gaming
Gondi welcomed notable art collector Batsoup as an advisor as they look to elevate their NFT credit market
🌎 Around Crypto and Web3
A few other Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:
Crypto majors are green this AM; BTC +4% at $60,970; ETH +4% at $2,730, SOL +1.5% at $147
Memecoin majors are slightly green up 2-7% with DOGE +2%, PEPE +3%, WIF +1%, BONK +1%, MOG +7%
Stablecoins on Solana are up $1B over the last 3 weeks, largely driven by PYUSD (PayPal's stablecoin)
Revolving Games introduced its new strategic partners, including major web3 names like Yat Sui, Sandeep Nailwal, Luca Netz, Zagabond, OSF/Mando and more
Binance added $TON to its Binance Launchpool
Animoca Brands announced a collaboration with ZetaChain in an effort to improve multi-chain interoperability
🚀 Memecoin Movers
$KEN (+92%, $19M market cap, SOL)
$BILLY (+40%, $54M market cap, SOL)
$FWOG (+29%, $23M market cap, SOL)
$GIGA (+22%, $196M market cap, SOL)
$MOTHER (+20%, $45M market cap, ETH)
📈 NFT Floor Price Increase (ETH)
Pudgy Puppets (136%, 0.05 ETH Floor)
Ghxsts (70%, 1.5 ETH)
Sugartown Oras (28%, 0.2 ETH)
Yayo NFT (27%, 0.12 ETH)
mfer (21%, 0.29 ETH)
🗓 Upcoming Mints and Events
Today is a busier day of mints, again focused in art.
Emily Xie is doing a drop with Iconic and AOTM called Aphelion Skies, offered as an auction lot of 3 pieces.
And then Dave Krugman is back with an eclectic vehicle drop, 333 supply priced at 0.069 ETH.
See the full list and dive in for more details with Swizzy's daily mint monitor.
Uprising Blockchain (10:00 a.m. ET)
Memes by 6529 (11:00 a.m. ET)
Emily Xie x Iconic x AOTM - Aphelion Skies (12:00 p.m. ET)
Floor - ICONS Series 4 Drop 4 (1:00 p.m. ET)
Dave Krugman x NGS - DRIVE // Lap 2 (4:20 p.m. ET)
Enjoy this write-up and/or want to sponsor the Morning Minute? Follow along with me on Twitter @tyler_did_it or reach out via email to tyler.warner@luckytrader.com.