Circle shares climbed roughly 6% on Monday after the stablecoin issuer unveiled a new institutional borrowing product and Bitcoin traded near $85,000, its highest level since January.
The new service, Digital Asset-Backed Borrowing, lets eligible Circle Mint customers deposit Bitcoin, mint Circle Wrapped Bitcoin (cirBTC), and use that token as collateral to borrow USDC without selling the underlying BTC. At launch, the service works through Morpho on Circle’s Arc blockchain and on Ethereum, with Circle planning to add Aave and other lending protocols over time.
Circle said each cirBTC is backed 1:1 by native Bitcoin held through Circle National Trust. Borrowed USDC is delivered directly into the customer’s Circle Mint account, while positions remain overcollateralized. Circle does not set rates or terms; interest rates, collateral requirements, liquidation thresholds and available liquidity are determined by the selected third-party lending market. Customers can add collateral or repay USDC to release cirBTC. New York customers are currently excluded.
The launch coincides with cirBTC becoming live on Arc, Circle’s recently launched mainnet that uses USDC as its native gas token. CRCL opened Monday at $98.09 after closing Friday at $91.78. Circle has not disclosed expected borrowing volumes or revenue from the product, and risks include potential liquidations if Bitcoin falls sharply, changing borrowing costs, and exposure to third-party DeFi protocol risk.
