What is the Difference Between WBTC and BTC?

[Suba]

Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and BTC often confuse newcomers to the crypto world, many of them even think these two coins are the same, because the value of WBTC will always be the same as Bitcoin and both can also be traded on either decentralized or centralized crypto exchanges, so that newcomers are not confused. Can you explain the difference between WBTC and BTC?

 

[Tobi]

Wrapped Bitcoin is a fairly recent innovation that effectively brings Bitcoin to the Ethereum blockchain. One of the main use cases for the WBTC is decentralized funding.

 

[Webster]

Wrapped Bitcoin is a fairly recent innovation that effectively brings Bitcoin to the Ethereum blockchain. One of the main use cases for the WBTC is decentralized funding.

Agreed; per Google AI,

Bitcoin (\(BTC\)) is the native cryptocurrency of the Bitcoin blockchain, while wrapped Bitcoin (\(wBTC\)) is an Ethereum-based token that is 1:1 backed by actual Bitcoin held in custodianship. The primary difference is utility: \(BTC\) operates on its own secure but less versatile blockchain, while \(wBTC\) allows Bitcoin's value to be used within Ethereum's smart contract-enabled ecosystem, specifically for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.